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CANON  SHEEHAN 
OF    DONERAILE 


CANON    SHEEHAN 

OF  DONERAILE 


THE  STORY  OF  AN  IRISH  PARISH  PRIEST 

AS  TOLD  CHIEFLY  BY  HIMSELF  IN  BOOKS 

PERSONAL  MEMOIRS  AND  LETTERS 


BY 


HERMAN  J.  HEUSER,  D.D. 

OVERBROOK   SEMINARY 


LONGMANS,    GREEN    AND    CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  ^  3OTH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

39     PATERNOSTER    ROW,     LONDON 

BOMBAY,    CALCUTTA,    AND   MADRAS 

I917 


COPYRIGHT,  I917 
BY  LONGMANS,  GREEN  AND  CO. 


All  rights  reserved 


THE -PLIMPTON -PRESS 
NORWOOD-MASS-U-S-A 


FOREWORD 

THE   story   of  Patrick  Augustine   Sheehan   is   that 
of  a  modest  country  pastor  in  the  south  of  Ireland 
who  made  a  great  name  as   a  writer  of  fiction, 
poetry,  and  thoughtful  essay. 

Between  1895  and  1910  he  had  published  fifteen  volumes. 
They  are:  Geoffrey  Austin^  The  Triumph  of  Failure j  My 
New  Curate,  Luke  Delmege,  The  Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray, 
Glenanaar,  Lisheen,  Miriam  Lucas,  The  Queens  Fillet, 
Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars,  Parerga,  The  Intellectuals, 
Cithara  Mea  (a  volume  of  poems),  and  Mariae  Corona 
(sermons  in  honor  of  Our  Lady).  Besides  these,  he  wrote 
a  number  of  Essays  and  Criticisms.  Another  novel, 
dealing  with  the  Irish  uprising  in  1867,  and  bearing  the 
title  The  Graves  at  Kilmorna,  was  published  after  his 
death.  Some  of  his  books  gained  at  once  an  international 
reputation,  and  were  translated  into  German,  French, 
Italian,  Spanish,  Dutch,  Hungarian,  Slavonic,  and  Russian 
(Ruthenian). 

These  writings  not  only  reveal  his  special  gifts  as  a 
thinker  and  writer,  but  they  allow  us  to  form  a  fair  estimate 
of  his  character  as  a  man;  of  his  aims  and  ideals  as  a  priest 
and  pastor  of  souls;  and  they  record  many  actual  experi- 
ences which  gave  direction  and  emphasis  to  these  aims. 

Canon  Sheehan  wrote  his  novels  as  a  travelled  man  tells 
his  adventures  to  young  folk.  His  poetic  gift  made  him 
clothe  the  incidents  in  the  vesture  of  romance,  with  a 
moral  vista  behind  the  action  of  his  story,  to  draw  the 
attention  of  the  reader  to  higher  things.  Although  his 
figures  were  mostly  copied  from  the  life  around  him,  a 
certain  sense  of  fitness  and  a  natural  delicacy  caused  him 
so  to  modify  the  form  of  his  character-play  as  to  make  it 
impossible   for  the  general   public  to  point  the   finger  to 


vi  FOREWORD 

any  individual  and  say:  This  is  the  man.  But  those  who 
knew  the  Canon  and  the  relations  that  shaped  his  visions 
or  influenced  his  motives  in  writing,  could  in  many  cases 
trace  the  sources  of  his  immediate  inspirations  to  definite 
places  and  persons. 

Now  that  he  is  dead,  and  it  is  possible  to  compare  the 
varied  expressions  of  his  genius,  as  well  as  to  note  the 
occasions  that  gave  rise  to  them,  there  come  to  the  surface 
spontaneously  numerous  evidences  to  show  that  he  habitu- 
ally painted  from  Hfe.  An  illustration  of  this  may  be 
found  in  his  collection  of  short  stories  under  the  title  of 
The  Story  of  a  Spoiled  Priest.  Almost  all  the  incidents 
portrayed  there  are  literally  true.  The  author  lays  the 
scene  of  the  school,  in  the  first  story,  "in  the  County 
Waterford,"  but  the  description  of  the  place  is  actually 
that  of  Mallow,  his  native  town,  as  he  depicted  it  elsewhere 
in  almost  identical  terms.  The  father  of  "the  spoiled 
priest"  is  Patrick  Sheehan's  early  teacher  at  the  National 
School;  the  young  curate  who  discovers  Dr.  Everhard 
is  Father  Sheehan  himself;  and  Kevin  O'Donnell  who 
enters  a  monastery  in  Florence  is  a  priest  whom  the  Canon 
befriended  to  his  last  hour.  Similarly  we  recognize  in 
the  story  of  "Rita  the  Street  Singer"  a  barely  disguised 
incident  that  happened  while  the  author  was  attached  as 
curate  to  the  cathedral  at  Queenstown,  between  1881  and 
1889,  although  he  lays  the  scene  at  "Reineville"  (an  obvious 
translation  of  "Queenstown")  and  dates  it  about  1880. 
In  like  manner  numerous  details  in  the  story  of  Glenanaar 
present  occurrences  and  scenes  taken  from  the  immediate 
nieghborhood  of  Doneraile. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  assume  that  Canon  Sheehan, 
when  writing,  was  always  conscious  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  projecting  the  likeness  of  this  or  that  individual.  He 
did  not  write  as  a  professional  man  of  letters,  that  is  to 
say  with  artistic  attention  to  definite  methods  and  models. 
His  compositions  were  wholly  spontaneous,  and  done  as 
a  recreation  from  the  fatiguing  and,  to  him,  most  serious 
obligations  of  his  pastoral  ministry.     On   this  fact  oppor- 


FOREWORD  vii 

tunity  will  offer  to  enlarge,  when  speaking  of  his  particular 
gift  as  a  writer;  here  it  suffices  to  say  that  his  observant 
mind  acted  for  him  as  does  the  sensitized  plate  of  a  camera. 
It  mechanically  took  images  and  reproduced  them.  The 
records  thus  traced  give  us  not  only  his  itinerary  through 
the  broad  ways  of  life  but  also  specific  indications  of  his 
inner  soul  action. 

Beyond  this  fragmentary  and  unconscious  revelation 
of  his  personality  by  himself  the  general  pubHc  has  hitherto 
known  little  of  Canon  Sheehan.  His  mode  of  life  tended 
toward  retirement,  and  apart  from  an  absorbing  devotion 
to  his  duties  as  parish  priest,  the  outside  world  saw  him 
rarely,  and  then  only  as  the  interpreter  of  some  particular 
message,  such  as  his  office  as  a  preacher  or  lecturer  led 
him  to  take  up  for  the  time. 

To  the  few  who  were  intimate  with  him  we  owe  the 
main  data  of  his  earher  life.  These  are  chiefly  —  his 
younger  brother,  Mr.  Denis  B.  Sheehan,  of  Queenstown, 
who  kindly  read  and  corrected  the  MS.  of  this  biography 
and,  as  literary  executor  of  the  Canon,  was  able  to  supple- 
ment it  with  valuable  notes  and  letters.  Next  I  am  in- 
debted for  information  to  Mr.  Wilham  O'Brien,  M.P., 
the  friend  of  Father  Sheehan's  boyhood,  and  his  associate 
at  school.  Likewise  to  that  most  lovable  of  literary  Irish 
priests,  the  late  Father  Matthew  Russell,  S.J.,  founder 
in  1873,  and  editor  for  more  than  thirty-five  years,  of  the 
Irish  Monthly^  to  which  magazine  Father  Sheehan  was  an 
occasional  contributor.  When  in  later  years  the  author 
of  My  New  Curate  of  necessity  drew  attention  upon  him- 
self. Father  Russell  was  induced  to  tell  what  he  knew  of 
him,  in  a  brief  article  for  The  Dolphin  (1902).  Modest 
as  was  the  account,  he  had  managed  to  speak  of  the  author 
in  a  way  which  delighted  the  curious  reader,  and  gave  a 
fair  estimate  of  Father  Sheehan's  personality  and  char- 
acter as  "the  most  literary  of  Irish  priests  since  the  author 
of  The  Prout  Papers." 

A  second  biographical  sketch  came  from  the  pen  of  the 
Rev.  Michael    Phelan,  S.J.,  of  the   Limerick   community, 


viii  FOREWORD 

who  also  enjoyed  the  personal  friendship  of  the  author. 
He  wrote  his  impressions  while  Canon  Sheehan  was  in  his 
last  illness  and  unable  to  revise  them.  This  fact  no  doubt 
accounts  for  some  inaccuracies  which  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  correct  in  the  course  of  the  biography.  A  third  account 
of  Father  Sheehan  appeared  simultaneously  in  the  Irish 
Monthly  and  the  Catholic  World,  and  was  reprinted  by 
the  Catholic  Mind.  The  latter  attributes  the  sketch  to 
the  Rev.  John  J.  Horgan,  S.J.  The  fact  is,  the  author 
is  an  Irish  solicitor,  whose  uncle,  as  curate  of  Mallow 
parish,  had  young  Patrick  Sheehan  in  his  church  choir. 
Mr.  Horgan  himself  began  his  literary  career  under  the 
influence  of  Canon  Sheehan,  and  is  the  author  of  Great 
Catholic  Laymen  and  a  number  of  monographs.  His 
close  acquaintance  with  the  pastor  of  Doneraile  enabled 
him  to  give  a  true  appreciation  of  the  latter;  but  he  does 
not  touch  upon  the  Canon's  domestic  or  pastoral  relations. 

Beyond  such  friendly  reminiscences,  and  detached  details 
of  the  Canon's  career  in  the  Irish  and  English  press  on 
the  occasion  of  his  death,  there  has  been  no  attempt  at 
a  complete  biography. 

Apart  from  these  gleanings  which  put  me  in  the  way 
of  further  sources  of  information,  I  owe  much  thoughtful 
aid  in  obtaining  the  requisite  material  for  this  sketch  to 
Mother  Mary  Ita  O'Connell  of  the  Presentation  Convent 
at  Doneraile,  whose  generous  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  education  and  religion  during  the  years  of  Canon 
Sheehan's  pastorate  gave  her  exceptional  opportunities 
of  forming  an  accurate  and  sympathetic  judgment  of 
his  life  among  the  people  of  Doneraile.  I  have  likewise 
to  acknowledge  the  services  of  Dr.  Grattan  Flood,  who 
permitted  the  use  of  some  unpublished  MSS.  and  letters, 
and  other  information  which  made  it  possible  to  obtain 
accurate  accounts  of  the  transactions  relating  to  the  "Land 
Settlement"  in  the  district  of  Doneraile,  in  which  the 
Canon  had  taken  a  leading  part  as  representative  of  his 
flock.  The  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  through  his  secretary  the 
Rev.   William   F.   Browne,   kindly  furnished   me  copies  of 


FOREWORD  ix 

my  correspondence  with  the  author  of  My  New  Curate 
covering  the  period  between  1897  and  1910,  and  other 
pertinent  information.  To  Lord  and  Lady  Castletown 
of  Doneraile,  whose  respect  and  friendship  the  Canon 
enjoyed  to  the  close  of  his  life;  Colonel  Grove  White, 
member  of  the  Cork  Historical  Society;  the  Rev.  John 
Burton,  P.P.,  of  Donoughmore;  Brother  P.  A.  Mulhall, 
director  of  the  Doneraile  Boys'  School;  Lady  Gilbert 
(Rosa  Mulholland),  Miss  Agnes  Clune  Quinlan  of  Lim- 
erick, resident  in  America;  Justice  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes, 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  others 
who,  being  personally  acquainted  with  the  Canon,  kindly 
replied  to^my  inquiries  directly  or  indirectly,  I  also  return 
thanks.  Lastly  I  wish  to  express  my  indebtedness  to  Mr. 
Edward  Galbally,  associate  editor  and  manager  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  Review,  for  his  aid  in  completing  this  bi- 
ography by  undertaking  a  journey,  amid  the  trying  con- 
ditions of  the  European  war,  in  order  to  verify  certain 
details  of  locality  and  other  data  connected  with  the  late 
Canon's  life. 

OvERBROOK,  March,  1917. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER 

Foreword ^ 

Introductory  —  Discovery  of  Father  Sheehan    ...        3 

PART  I.    THE  FORMATION 


I.   Patrick  Sheehan  —  The  Boy 


Motto  of  the  Sheehans 

Munster  Clans 

Baptism 

Home-Folk 

The  Schoolmaster 

Dr.  McCarthy  and  "Father"  Horgan 

Music 

Glimpses  of  a  Vocation 

Dreamer  and  Patriot 

The  Fenian  Brotherhood 

Hurling  Matches  and  Cricket 

"By  the  Singing  River" 

Mallow  Celebrities 

First  Sorrow 

II.   St.  Colman's  —  Fermoy 16 

The  Collegian 

"Mayfield" 

Home  on  Vacation 

The  Muse  of  Irish  History 

Margaret's  Death 

Proficiency  in  Studies 

III.   Maynooth ^3 

Intellectual  and  Economic  Condition 

The  Faculty 

"Manutiae  Umbrae" 

Entrance  Examination 

Reform  of  Studies 

Foreign  Influences 

The  "Quanta  Cura" 

Philosophy,  "dry  as  dust" 

"Jumps"  the  Physics. 

The  Study  of  Theology 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Dunboyne  Establishment 

Desultory  Reading 

Thomas  Carlyle 

Jean  Paul  Richter 

Tennyson 

Dante 

The  Compass  of  Faith 

Among  the  "Class  Pieces" 

The  Discipline  of  Pain 

Sister  Mary  Stanislaus  Dies 

Patrick's  Illness 

Too  Young  for  Ordination 

Pastoral  Theology  at  Mallow 

Theory  and  Practice 

Defects  ot  Seminary  Training 

Piety  and  Culture 

The  Teaching  of  Philosophy 

IV.   Priesthood,  1875 45 

His  Guardian  made  Bishop  of  Cloyne 

Dr.  Russell's  Testimony 

Ordination 

First  Mass 

Off  to  England 

Plymouth  Mission 

"Quant  Je  Puis" 

Father  Sheehan's  Preaching 

Controversy  or  Doctrine? 

A  Prominent  Convert 

Sent  to  Exeter 

Becomes  Administrator 

Learns  more  Theology 

Pastoral  Duties 

A  Visit  to  Lourdes 

The  Church  and  the  Clergy  of  France 

At  the  Irish  College  in  Paris 

Back  to  Southampton 

Devonshire  Society 

"Priest  Hobson" 

Dr.  Oliver. 

Incentives  to  Literary  Work 

Canonical  Counsels 

Dignified  Exeter 

The  Gospel  of  Work 

Philanthropy 

Homiletics 

Exiles 

Dartmoor  —  Michael  Davitt 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

V.   Back  to  Ireland,  i  877-1881 73 

Appointment  to  Mallow  as  Curate 
At  the  Hotel  in  Dublin 
^  Silent  Yearnings 
Ideal  Reforms 
Tries  "Punctuality" 
A  "Via  Media" 
The  Young  Men  of  Mallow 
Educational  Pitfalls 

VI.   Called  to  Queenstown,  1881-1888 87 

At  the  Cathedral 

Educational  Projects 

Writes  on  Christian  Art 

German  Thought 

Pere  Didon's  "Les  Allemands" 

Newman  and  Pusey 

Matthew  Arnold 

Augustinian  Studies 

"The  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record" 

"The  Irish  Monthly" 

Gelasius  di  Cilia 

An  American  Convert 

Pastoral  Work  at  Queenstown 

Doctor  Orders  him  to  GlengarifF 

Returns  to  Mallow  as  Curate 

Work  among  the  Young  Men 

Bishop  McCarthy  dies 

Aubrey  de  Vere 


PART  II.    LITERARY  LIFE 
I.   Parish  Priest  of  Doneraile 105 

An  Idyllic  Parish 

II.   His  First  Book no 

Hopes  and  Fears 

Dedication 

Disappointment 

Sunshine  Through  Clouds 

Matthew  Russell,  S  J.,  lends  a  friendly  hand 

"The  Catholic  World" 

"The  Ave  Maria" 

"The  Triumph  of  Failure" 

A  Rejected  MS. 


xiv  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER 

III.  Favorite  Themes 122 

Three  Chapters  of  Clerical  Studies 
Work  and  Wants  of  the  Irish  Church 
Appeal  to  the  Clergy 
Value  of  Literary  Criticism 

IV.  The   Genesis   of   "My  New  Curate"   and   its 

Reception 132 

Irish  Witchcraft 

Popularity  of  "Daddy  Dan" 

The  Monks  of  Trabolgan 

Criticisms 

Name  of  Author  revealed 

Power  of  the  Pen 

Proposal  to  write  "My  Old  Pastors,"  next  "Ye  Shepherds" 

V.   "The  Triumph  of  Failure" 145 

VI.   "My  New  Curate"  Appears  in  Book  Form  .    .     157 

Appreciations 

True  Measure  of  Success 

"Ye  Shepherds" 

VII.  "Luke  Delmege"  and  Other  Volumes  ....  168 

"Idiota"  Vanishes 

"Hie  jacent  Ossa  Lucae" 

"Cithara  Mea" 

American  Bait 

A  New  Departure 

"Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars" 

"Father  Mac  on  Retreat" 

Congenial  Company 

"Glenanaar" 

VIII.  A  Holiday  in  Germany 195 

Anticipations 
Impressions 

IX.   "Lisheen" 204 

Estimates 

A  Rhythmic  Leitmotif 

X.   Religio-Political  Discussions 210 

Struggle  for  Home  Rule  in  Ireland 

Dr.  Michael  O'Riordan  and  Sir  Horace  Plunkett 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI.   Political  Convictions 218 

A  Contrast 

Peace  and  Conciliation 

Ireland's  Political  Profit 

New  Irish  Journal  —  Ideal  and  Practical 

Principle  of  Liberty 

Democracy  of  Ireland 

Influence  of  Irish  Genius  To-day 


XII.   "The  Intellectuals" — Attempts  at  Drama  .    .     232 

The  "Irish  Rosary" 
Drama 


XIII.   The  Canon  at  Home 239 

Appearance  —  Conversation 

In  the  Canon's  Den 

A  Suggested  Visit  to  the  United  States 

Fish  Supply  for  Ireland 

Autobiographical  Memoir 

"The  Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray" 

The  Final  Law 


XIV.   Proposed  for  a  Bishopric 252 

Letter  to  the  Archdeacon 

Justice  Holmes  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court 

XV.  Last  Books     256 

"The  Queen's  Fillet" 

Two  Theories 

"The  Graves  at  Kilmorna" 

Facts  not  Fiction 

Prophecies  : 

Criticism 

XVI.   Literary  Methods 263 

XVII.   Echoes  from  Foreign  Lands 267 

One  of  the  "Most  Read" 
Portraits 


xvi  CONTENTS 


PART  III.    PASTORAL  LIFE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Parish  of  Doneraile 275 

Illustrious  Predecessors 

Bridge  House 

The  "Curse  of  Downeraile" 

St.  Coneela's  Well 

At  the  "Stations" 


II.   Shepherd  of  His  Flock 289 

On  Sundays 
Public  Spirit 
A  Practical  Guide 


III.  The  Land  Purchase  Act 304 

The  Wyndham  Act  of  1903 

Prudent  Management  and  Patient  Drilling 

The  "Feis"  of  Douglas  Hyde 

The  Canon  and  the  Gentry 

Triumph  after  Difficulties 

Lord  Castletown's  Tribute 


IV.  The  Canon's  Political  Influence 313 


V.   Educational  Work 320 

The  Boys'  Schools 

Technical  and  Manual  Schools 

Scientific  Laboratory 

Intermediate  Examinations 

The  Girls'  Schools  of  the  Presentation  Nuns 

Lace  and  Industrial  Departments 

School  Visitation 

Canon  Sheehan's  Theory  of  Popular  Education 

The  Scheme  of  National  Schools  for  Ireland 

Irish  Teachers  and  Methods 

Reading 

Essentials  and  Accomplishments 

Physiology 

Misleading  Ambition 

Lectures  at  Home  and  Abroad 

University  Education 


CONTENTS  xvll 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI.  Care  of  the  Parish  Church 345 

The  Parish  Church 

Liturgical  Observances 

Devotions 

Music 

"The  Emigrant's  Return" 

VII.   Relationship  to  Priests  and  Religious    ....     360 

The  Curates 

Clerical  Friends 

The  Brothers  of  His  Schools 

Estimate  of  the  Catholic  Priesthood 

Respect  for  the  Nuns 

Casual  Visitors 

PART  IV.    THE  END 
I.    Forebodings 375 

The  Children's  Prayer 

At  the  South  Infirmary,  Cork 

The  Return  Home 

II.    Preparation  for  Death:  The  End 388 

His  Tombstone 
Aftermath 

Index      393 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

Canon  Sheehan  of   Doneraile Frontispiece 

At  the  Time  of  His  Ordination,  1875.       .Facing  page  44 

Curate  at  the  Queenstown  Cathedral,  1886.      .      .  86 

Canon  Sheehan  in  His  Garden 108 

Facsimile  Letter 194 

Pastor  of  Doneraile,  1898 238 

"  Father  Pat  "  among  the  Children 290 

Presentation  Convent  and  Girls'  School,  Doneraile  320 

"  Bridge  House,"  and  Boys'  School,  Doneraile  .      .  320 

Parish  Church,  Doneraile 346 

Main  Street,  Doneraile 346 

Headstone   Marking  the   Grave  of   Canon   Sheehan  388 


CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE 

INTRODUCTORY 


INTRODUCTORY 

IN  midsummer  of  1897,  while  on  a  journey  to  Europe, 
I  incidentally  became  interested  in  Geoffrey  Austin, 
a  volume  which  had  been  published  anonymously 
two  years  before,  and  a  belated  copy  of  which  had  reached 
me  for  review  before  leaving  America.  It  purported  to  be 
the  story  of  a  young  student  who  gives  his  reminiscent 
impressions  of  teachers  and  their  methods  in  one  of  the 
private  tutoring  colleges  preparing  boys  for  the  Civil 
Service  Examinations  in  Ireland.  The  purpose  of  the 
book  was  frankly  critical;  but  so  skillfully  interwoven  was 
the  theme  with  the  reflections  of  a  cultured  mind,  while 
the  scenic  setting  and  diction  had  all  the  charm  of  romance, 
that  one  could  not  escape  its  attraction  as  a  novel. 

A  feature  of  the  story  was  the  realism  with  which  the 
author  sketched  his  characters,  as  it  were  from  life.  Among 
these  were  three  priests —  Father  Thomas  Costello,  Geoffrey 
Austin's  guardian;  Father  Bellamy,  the  rector  of  May- 
field  school;  and  Father  Aidan,  a  parish  priest  from  the 
county  Clare.  These  figures  were  typical  in  a  measure  of 
the  Irish  clergy.  As  editor  of  an  ecclesiastical  periodical 
which  was  gradually  gaining  in  popularity  among  the 
EngHsh-speaking  clergy,  I  had  for  some  years  past  been  in 
search  of  a  writer  capable  of  drawing  a  series  of  clerical 
sketches.  These  were  to  depict  the  Cathohc  priest  occu- 
pied with  the  various  functions  in  his  parish,  that  is  amidst 
his  people,  with  the  children  in  school,  in  his  relations  to 
his  fellow  priests,  in  his  contact  with  the  outside  world, 
and  finally  as  reflecting  the  spirit  of  prayer  and  study 
within  the  privacy  of  the  presbytery.  Such  a  series,  it 
was  hoped,  wou^ld  become  the  vehicle  of  varied  pastoral 
and  theological  teaching,  and  at  the  same  time  introduce 
into  the   magazine   a   feature  of  entertainment  free  from 

3 


4  INTRODUCTORY 

those  didactic  elements  which,  when  continuous,  are  apt 
to  weary  the  average  reader. 

The  writer  of  Geoffrey  Austin  appeared  to  possess  the 
quahfications  for  the  desired  work.  He  evidently  excelled 
both  in  the  art  of  illustrating  principles  through  pleasing 
narrative,  and  in  emphasizing  whatever  contributed  to 
the  moral  and  religious  betterment  of  the  people.  His 
writing  showed,  beneath  a  slightly  pessimistic  enthusiasm, 
a  clear  perception  of  both  lights  and  shadows  in  our  modern 
religious  and  public  life.  At  the  same  time  he  had  the 
wit  and  humor  which  allowed  him  to  apply  correctives 
without  greatly  irritating  the  reader.  In  short,  here  were 
the  genial  temperament  and  balance  of  judgment  that 
could,  despite  certain  prepossessions,  discriminate  between 
the  extreme  views  of  the  optimist  and  the  misanthrope  in 
matters  of  ethics  and  religion.  I  had  no  doubt  of  the 
author's  willingness  to  fall  in  with  my  proposal  to  write 
the  desired  series.  It  would  be  necessary,  however,  first 
of  all  to  find  him.  The  obvious  way  was  to  inquire  from 
the  publishers,  the  Messrs.  M.  H.  Gill  and  Son,  of  DubHn. 
This  I  did. 

To  my  amazement  I  learnt  that  Geoffrey  Austin  had 
had  but  a  limited  sale.  The  ostensible  reason  lay  in  the 
fact  that  the  author  had  criticized  the  system  of  educa- 
tion in  Ireland,  and  in  doing  so  had  seemed  to  cast  asper- 
sions upon  Irish  character  and  faith.  His  picture  of  a 
modern  intermediate  school  under  clerical  management 
had  been  declared  to  be  extraordinary,  unreal,  and  imagi- 
nary, not  to  say  distorted.  Although  the  literary  merit  of 
the  novel  was  recognized,  the  critics  thought  that  it  was 
calculated  to  do  more  harm  than  good,  by  leaving  the 
impression  that  the  condition  depicted  as  existing  at  May- 
field  College  was  typical  of  private  schools  throughout 
Ireland.  As  a  matter  of  fact  only  a  few  literary  journals 
had  taken  notice  of  the  book,  while  some  of  them  had  ex- 
pressed open  resentment  of  the  implied  charges. 

There  was  a  species  of  truth  in  the  general  impression  as 
here  indicated.    The  writer  of  Geoffrey  Austin  had  said  some 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

hard  things  about  the  apathy  of  Irishmen  and  their  re- 
pugnance to  certain  wholesome  changes;  but  it  must  have 
been  clear  to  any  unprejudiced  reader  that  it  was  not  the 
author's  purpose,  even  in  the  remotest  sense,  to  disparage 
his  country.  Indeed  the  extraordinary  quahties  of  the 
narrative,  the  writer's  accurate  deUneation  of  certain  types 
of  human  nature,  his  power  of  poetic  expression,  were  but 
the  vehicle  of  the  plainly  revealed  purpose  to  arouse  in- 
terest in  the  work  of  raising  the  educational  standard  of 
his  country.  This  design  formed  the  core  of  the  story, 
as  might  have  been  patent  to  anyone  who  was  not  pre- 
occupied with  an  oversensitive  estimate  of  existing  values. 

Having  obtained  the  author's  address,  I  promptly  com- 
municated with  him  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  his  serv- 
ices for  our  magazine.  Of  the  results  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  speak  later  on.  The  subject  of  Geoffrey  Austin  has  been 
introduced  here  mainly  because  it  became  the  occasion  of 
that  literary  activity  which  not  only  produced  a  new  type 
of  clerical  novel  in  the  English  language,  and  at  once  made 
its  author  famous,  but  at  the  same  time  established  that 
friendly  and  intimate  relation  between  the  pastor  of 
Doneraile  and  myself  which  has  led  to  the  writing  of  this 
biography. 


PART  I 

AN    ACCOUNT    OF    PATRICK    SHEEHAN's    CHILDHOOD,    HIS 

TRAINING,    STUDENT    LIFE,    AND    EARLY   YEARS    AS 

A   PRIEST   IN    ENGLAND   AND   IRELAND 

I 85 2-1 894 


PATRICK   SHEEHAN  —  THE    BOY 

THE  Sheehans  and  O'Sheehans  ^  are  very  numer- 
ous among  the  clans  of  old  Munster,  and  with- 
out attempting  to  trace  the  particular  sept  to 
which  Patrick  Aloysius,  the  father  of  our  subject,  belonged, 
it  may  be  noted  that  the  escutcheon  of  the  ancient  Sheehans 
is  singularly  suggestive  of  the  character  and  life-purpose 
of  Patrick  junior.  It  bears  on  an  azure  field  a  dove  carry- 
ing an  olive-branch  above  a  green  mound;  the  motto 
beneath  is  "Pro  Virtute  Patria."  Nothing  could  be  more 
apposite  than  this  device,  if  the  disposition  and  char- 
acter of  Canon  Sheehan  were  to  be  translated  into  sym- 
boHc  language.  He  was  the  gentlest  of  men,  a  bearer  of 
peace,  and  a  true  Sheehan  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Irish 
word  is  commonly  used  for  a  "lover"  of  his  kind  and  of 
his  country. 

The  Baptismal  Register  of  the  parish  of  Mallow  in  the 
diocese  of  Cloyne  states  that  Patrick  Sheehan,^  son  of 
Patrick  Sheehan  and  Joanna  Regan,  was  baptized  on  the 
17th  day  of  March,  1852,  by  the  parish  priest  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Dr.  J.  C.  Wigmore,  the  sponsors  being  Timothy 
Cronin  and  Mary  Ann  Relehan. 

The  best  testimony  to  the  worth  of  the  Sheehan  family 
is  to  be  found  in  the  virtues  of  mind  and  heart  which  the 
parents  of  young  Patrick  transmitted  to  and  developed  in 
their  children,  and  which  led  three  of  them  to  consecrate 
their  lives  to  the  service  of  religion.  Two  elder  sisters, 
Hannah  and  Margaret,  became  nuns  in  the  Order  of 
Mercy;   Patrick  entered  the  priesthood;   a  younger  brother, 

1  The  name  is  variously  spelled,  and  different  interpretations  may  be  read  out  of 
Sheaun,  Sheehun,  Sheehan,  Sheean,  Shean,  and  Sheahan. 
*  The  name  is  here  spelled  Sheahan. 

9 


10  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

Dennis  Bernard,  is  still  living,  and  is  engaged  in  the  Irish 
Civil  Service  as  Auditor  of  the  local  Government  Board. 
They  have  all  given  evidence  of  literary  talent.  A  fifth 
child,  John,  died  at  the  age  of  five  years,  and  is  buried  with 
his  parents  in  the  Mallow  cemetery. 

As  soon  as  Patrick  was  competent  he  was  sent  to  the  local 
National  School.  In  one  of  his  stories  he  gives  us  a  glimpse 
of  his  early  teacher,  Michael  Francis  O'Connor,  whose 
"range  of  attainments  was  hmited;  but  what  he  knew  he 
knew  well,  and  could  impart  to  his  pupils.  He  did  his  duty 
conscientiously  by  constant,  unremitting  care;  and  he 
emphasized  his  teaching  by  frequent  appeals  to  the  ferule." 
The  little  pupil  was  "fair-haired  and  dehcate,"  Hke  his 
sister  Maggie,  but  of  a  wholly  different  type  from  his 
elder  sister  Hannah,  who  was  dark  and  of  an  active  turn. 
Patrick  was  silent  and  meditative.  He  had  "large  wistful 
blue  eyes  that  looked  at  you  as  if  they  saw  something 
behind  and  beyond  you."  As  he  sees  himself  in  later 
years,  he  was  "a  bit  of  a  dreamer,  and  when  the  other 
lads  were  shouting  at  play  he  went  alone  to  some  copse 
or  thicket,  and  with  a  book,  or  more  often  without  one, 
would  sit  and  think,  and  look  dreamily  at  floating  clouds 
or  running  stream;  and  then,  with  a  sigh,  go  back  to  his 
desk." 

His  natural  and  early  bent  appears  to  have  been  toward 
the  priesthood,  though  at  one  time  —  so  we  are  told  —  he 
expressed  a  desire  to  study  for  the  Bar;  but  in  this  he  did 
not  receive  encouragement,  for  the  outlook  was  unprom- 
ising. The  first  evidence  of  a  vocation  to  the  priesthood 
reveals  itself  through  the  boy's  admiration  for  a  "great 
tall  student"  from  Maynooth.  He  recalls  this  hero's 
homecoming  to  his  native  town  for  vacation.  One  summer 
night  the  seminarist  "took  the  sleepy  boy  on  his  shoulders 
and  wrapped  him  round  with  the  folds  of  his  great  May- 
nooth cloak  that  was  clasped  with  brass  chains  running 
through  lions'  heads,  carrying  him  out  under  the  stars,  as 
the  warm  summer  air  played  around  them."  ^ 

^  A  Spoiled  Priest  and  other  Stories.     Chap.  II. 


Chap.  I]       PATRICK  SHEEHAN  — THE  BOY  n 

Although  naturally  of  a  reserved  and  solitary  disposition, 
the  little  lad  took  an  occasional,  and  then  not  merely 
platonic  but  thoroughly  active  interest  in  all  kinds  of  sport. 
He  was  also  fond  of  music,  and  had  a  remarkably  sweet 
voice,  which  did  good  service  in  the  Boys'  Choir  of  the  parish 
church,  organized  by  Father  Horgan,  the  junior  curate. 
The  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCarthy,  who  later  became 
Bishop  of  Cloyne.  To  him  Patrick's  father  at  his  death  left 
the  guardianship  of  the  four  children,  together  with  the 
income  of  a  modest  property.  Both  parents  died  within 
a  few  months  of  each  other  when  Patrick  was  only  ten 
years  of  age. 

In  a  memorandum  of  his  boyhood  days,  under  the  title 
of  "Moonlight  of  Memory,"  partial  repetitions  of  which 
are  to  be  found  throughout  his  various  writings,  he  says: 

How  beautifully  do  the  plain  prosaic  limestone  walls  of  the  old 
market  house  at  Mallow,  which  crowned  and  terminated  the  New 
Street  in  which  I  was  born,  stand  out  amid  the  scenes  of  the  little 
theatre  of  my  existence.  I  well  remember  it  in  the  sunlight  and 
in  the  moonlight  —  the  exact  flat  stone  which  we  singled  out  for 
our  balls;  the  niches  which  were  such  a  trouble  to  me;  the  old 
weighing  machine;  the  vast  and  tremendous  circuses  whose 
splendours,  as  of  Arabian  nights,  were  hidden  within,  under 
locked  gates.  How  romantic,  seen  in  the  light  of  memory,  was 
the  dear  old  glen,  where  we  first  learnt  the  art  of  poetry  in  its 
wild  flowers  —  the  primrose  and  the  cowslip,  and  the  wild  hya- 
cinth whose  fragrance,  like  the  perfume  that  hangs  around  old 
letters,  comes  back  across  the  years.  And  the  brook  narrowing 
and  broadening,  which  we  leaped  in  the  summer  days,  where  we 
fished  for  dollies  and  sticklebacks,  and  where  we  wondered  at  the 
gorgeous  dragonflies  that  swam  and  sang  in  the  air  of  the  hot 
noon.  And  the  little  chalet  on  the  cliff,  with  its  fringe  of  firs, 
that  looked  so  beautiful  and  poetical  against  the  sunset,  and  the 
notes  of  the  cuckoo  and  the  throstle,  recalling  the  lines  of  Words- 
worth: 

"Come  forth  into  the  light  of  things, 
Let  nature  be  your  teacher." 

From  such  surroundings  the  naturally  contemplative  and 
poetic   mind   of  the   boy    received    constant   nourishment. 


12  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

His  childish  observations  became  incentives  to  meditation 
on  the  significance  of  nature  and  its  relation  to  the  actu- 
ahties  of  Hfe,  and  these  reflections  formed  a  marked  trait 
of  his  later  writings. 

There  was  another  sentiment  which  began  to  take  root 
at  this  period  in  the  boy's  nature  —  that  of  intense  pa- 
triotism, steadily  growing  with  the  realization  of  the 
wrongs  which  his  people  had  suffered  for  centuries.  This 
feeling  made  him  all  through  his  life  deeply  sensitive  to 
the  dangers  that  would  beset  his  countrymen,  if  they 
should  fail  to  be  prepared  for  a  right  use  of  that  freedom 
which  the  promise  of  Emancipation  was  apparently  bring- 
ing within  actual  reach. 

Many  a  summer  evening  we  watched  and  envied  the  little 
batches  of  Fenians  going  up  to  drill  in  the  dark  recesses  of  Buckley's 
wood.  For  the  sublime  and  sacred  feeling  that  took  these  trades- 
men away  from  work  and  pleasure  was  also  the  passion  of  our 
youth.  The  shadow  of  '48,  and  the  wild  music  that  came  out 
of  that  shadow  were  upon  us,  and  we  were  watching  with  beating 
hearts  and  kindling  eyes  the  preludes  of  1867. 

Among  other  things  he  relates  an  experience  on  one  of 
the  dark  winter  nights  of  the  year  1865: 

I  see  now  the  short  well  knit  figure  of  the  ballad-singer  in  the 
Main  street;  I  see  the  gaslight  from  the  shop  flickering  on  his 
coat,  shining  and  glistening  because  the  rain  was  pouring  in 
cataracts  upon  his  clothes.  I  see  his  pale  and  stern  looking  face, 
his  black  hair  falling  down  in  ringlets  on  his  shoulders,  the  short 
black  mustache;  the  right  hand  hid  away  in  his  breast;  I  hear 
his  voice  ringing  up  along  the  deserted  street,  that  fine  ballad  of 
Innominatus,  called  in  the  Irish  Anthologies  The  Fenian  A/an.  I 
remember  how  it  thrilled  us  to  hear  the  words: 

"  But  once  more  returning, 
Within  our  veins  burning 

The  fires  that  illumined  dark  Aherlow's  glen; 
We  raise  the  old  cry  anew, 
Slogan  of  Con  and  Hugh: 

Out  and  make  way  for  the  Fenian  men." 

Again  we  find  him  describing  a  youthful  member  of  the 
Fenian  brotherhood,   a  manly  lad  who  would  gather  the 


Chap.  I]       PATRICK  SHEEHAN  — THE  BOY  13 

boys  of  the  town  in  a  corner  of  the  old  market  house  and 
address  them  thus: 

Look,  boys,  at  those  captains  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  their  white 
faces,  their  hands  trembhng,  their  hearts  throbbing.  And  why? 
Because  the  sorrow  of  Ireland  and  the  sadness  of  Ireland,  and  her 
eternal  hopes,  so  often  defeated,  have  come  down  upon  them. 
And  they  remember  what  a  little  thing  was  between  them  and 
victory  but  for  the  traitor.  Believe  me,  boys,  you  needn't  much 
mind  the  man  who  flings  his  caubeen  in  the  air  and  shouts  that 
he'll  shed  his  last  drop  of  blood  for  Ireland.  But  whenever  you 
hear:  "God  save  Ireland"  or  "God  prosper  old  Ireland,"  and 
you  see  the  man's  fingers  twitch  and  the  lines  drawn  down  on  his 
face  and  the  color  fly  from  his  cheeks  —  ah  yes,  boys,  mind  him. 

Those  Fenians  were  silent,  strong  men,  into  whose  characters 
some  stern  and  terrible  energy  had  been  infused.  There  were  no 
braggarts  among  them.  Their  passion  was  too  deep  for  words; 
it  was  an  all-consuming,  fierce,  unswerving  and  unselfish  love  for 
Ireland.  They  did  not  love  their  motherland  because  it  gave 
them  a  scrap  of  her  bogs  or  fields  or  mountains;  or  because  they 
could  sell  her  interests  at  a  brigand's  valuation;  but  because 
she  was  Ireland  who  had  wrongs  to  be  avenged,  and  sorrows  to 
be  redressed,  and  because  they  hoped  —  every  man  and  boy 
among  them  —  to  see  the  day  when  they  would  help  to  crown 
that  dear  old  motherland  with  the  royal  symbols  of  independence. 
Yes,  indeed  the  blood  runs  freely  in  the  veins  of  boys'  youth,  and 
our  veins  ran  fire  under  the  influence  of  that  glorious  passion. 

But  these  were  sober  thoughts  that  substituted  them- 
selves only  on  occasions  for  the  ordinary  enthusiasms  of 
a  boy's  life.  It  is  pleasant  to  hear  him  tell  of  the  youthful 
sports,  for  it  betokens  his  sturdy  admiration  of  prowess 
and  an  active  interest  in  the  public  games  of  his  town, 
though  one  would  hardly  have  expected  it  in  a  delicate 
lad  who  was  so  fond  of  solitude  and  books. 

At  that  time  football  was  almost  unknown  at  Mallow.  Hurling 
and  handball  in  winter,  cricket  in  summer,  were  the  universal 
games.  Every  lane,  every  street,  had  its  cricket  club;  and  high 
above  all,  and  dominating  all,  was  the  M.  C.  C,  the  magic  letters 
that  floated  on  the  flag  hanging  above  the  little  shanty  in  the 


14  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  I 

field  to  the  east  of  the  "monastery."  What  then  must  have 
been  the  mighty  attraction  that  took  us  schoolboys  away  from 
such  an  arena  on  a  certain  hot  summer  afternoon,  and  flung 
us,  a  wild  disordered  mass,  into  the  Main  Street?  Nothing  but 
the  report  that  the  police  had  surrounded  the  house  of  John 
Sullivan,  at  the  corner  of  Carmichael's  lane,  and  had  placed 
him  under  arrest  while  searching  every  room  for  papers.  We 
were  not  disappointed.  There,  inside  the  shop  at  the  window 
we  could  see  the  prisoner,  erect  as  usual  and  unconcerned,  chatting 
with  the  constables  that  filled  the  place.  He  had  on  his  usual 
white  coat  (he  was  a  baker),  and  was  stroking  his  short  beard. 
Presently  the  District  Inspector  came  downstairs.  He  had  found 
nothing  "to  compromise  the  prisoner."  "No  wonder,"  he  adds, 
"for  among  the  constables  present  were  a  number  of  sworn 
Fenians." 

Patrick  Sheehan,  together  with  another  boy  ^  of  nearly 
his  own  age,  thus  came  to  imbibe  certain  ideals  which 
made  them  look  on  their  native  town  with  pride.  Their 
ambition  was  no  doubt  also  kindled  by  the  knowledge  that 
Mallow  had  given  birth  to  some  famous  men  of  recent 
times.  There  was  the  venerable  Archbishop  Purcell  of  the 
American  Catholic  Church,  the  late  Sir  Edward  Sullivan, 
Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  Sir  Richard  Quain,  the  great 
medical  authority,  and  Thomas  Davis,  the  Irish  poet  and 
patriot.  Later  on,  our  two  young  Irish  striplings  were  to 
add  their  own  names  to  this  Hst  of  Mallow  celebrities. 

These  glimpses  of  his  boyhood  give  us  a  fair  idea  of 
his  early  surroundings.  From  them  he  imbibed  very 
readily  that  sense  of  partnership  with  nature  which  in  time 
made  his  communings  with  the  land  and  sea  and  sky  a 
daily  habit;  they  fostered  that  liking  for  outdoor  exercise 
which,  while  in  seeming  contrast  with  his  ingrained  prefer- 
ence for  cloistered  life,  preserved  in  him  the  freshness  that 
marked  all  his  tastes.  They  also  throw  light  upon  the 
diffident  ardor  of  his  patriotism,  and  explain  a  certain 
sadness  that  clung  to  his  sanguine  hopes  of  the  ultimate 
regeneration  of  his  people  by  the  baptism  of  a  glorious 
liberty  won  through  hard  struggle. 

1  William  O'Brien. 


Chap.  I]      PATRICK  SHEEHAN  — THE  BOY  15 

There  is  ample  proof,  however,  that  the  boy  did  not 
altogether  miss  the  elixir  of  joys  that  come  to  the  average 
child  under  wholesome  conditions  of  life;  and  the  at- 
mosphere of  his  home  and  school  was  an  eminently  healthy 
one,  particularly  in  its  moral  aspect.  In  later  years  he 
took  a  deep  and  absorbing  interest  in  the  children  com- 
mitted to  his  care,  and  he  used  to  say:  "We  should  pour 
into  young  lives  all  the  wine  and  oil  of  gladness  we  may, 
consistently  with  the  disciphne  that  will  fit  them  for  the 
future  struggle."  A  former  schoolmate  of  Patrick  Sheehan 
writes  of  him:  "As  a  boy  he  was  remarkably  gentle  in 
manner,  and  somewhat  reserved.  In  school  he  was  known 
to  be  very  attentive  and  always  prepared  his  lessons  well. 
He  was  also  fond  of  cricket  and  at  times  took  a  lively 
part  in  our  youthful  sports." 

His  talent  for  mathematics  was  exceptional,  and  during 
the  last  two  years  at  the  National  School  he  gave  most  of 
his  attention  to  geometry  and  algebra.  The  fruits  of  this 
application  showed  themselves  not  only  in  his  subsequent 
fondness  for  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences,  especially 
astronomy,  but  in  his  clear  and  logical  reasoning  on  any 
practical  subject  that  offered  room  for  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  consequences. 

The  period  of  boyish  gladness  was  not  to  be  long  for 
him  ere  the  clouds  began  to  appear  and  bade  him  note 
the  more  sober  aspects  of  things  around  him.  In  the 
summer  of  1863  his  father  died,  and  in  February  of  the 
following  year  the  widowed  mother  followed  her  husband. 
For  a  httle  while,  during  the  days  of  bereavement,  the 
management  of  the  young  family  devolved  upon  the  elder 
sister,  who  was  still  at  school.  Soon  after  this  Father  John 
McCarthy,  guardian  of  the  children,  sent  the  two  daughters 
to  complete  their  education  at  the  Loreto  Convent  in 
Fermoy. 


II 

ST.    COLMAN's  —  FERMOY 

IN  the  spring  of  1866,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  Patrick 
Sheehan  was  sent  to  St.  Colman's  College,  whither 
his  younger  brother  followed  him.  In  a  memorandum 
he  noted  the  day  of  his  entrance,  the  sixth  of  April,  as  an 
important  anniversary.^ 

St.  Colman's  is  a  preparatory  training  school  in  the 
diocese  of  Cloyne,  where  boys  receive  a  classical  educa- 
tion fitting  them  for  entrance  to  the  philosophical  depart- 
ment of  the  Theological  Seminary,  or  to  the  academic 
courses  that  lead  to  the  learned  professions.     The  college 

1  All  through  his  life  he  retained  an  affectionate  attachment  to  this  his 
early  Alma  Mater.  Almost  the  first  income  he  derived  from  his  literary  labors 
was  devoted  to  partly  rebuilding  and  decorating  the  college  chapel  in  which  he 
placed  a  beautiful  altar  as  a  token  of  gratitude.  The  act  has,  since  his  death, 
been  memorialized  in  an  inscription  which  meets  the  visitor  at  the  entrance  of 
the  chapel. 

IN   GRATEFUL   MEMORY   OF 

VERY  REV.   p.  A.  CANON  SHEEHAN,  D.D.,  P.P. 

DONERAILE, 

WHOSE    GENEROSITY   LARGELY   HELPED   TO   BUILD 

THIS     CHAPEL 

HE   DIED   OCT.    5,    I913. 


BY   ORDER   OF 

THE  MOST  REV.   R.   BROWNE,  D.D., 

LORD    BISHOP   OF   CLOYNE, 

AN   ANNIVERSARY   REQUIEM   MASS 

IS   TO    BE    CELEBRATED   FOR   THE   REPOSE 

OF   HIS    SOUL   ON   THE    5TH    DAY   OF   OCTOBER 

EACH   YEAR. 

R.I.P. 
16 


Chap.  II  ]  ST.  COLMAN'S  —  FERMOY  17 

was  then,  as  it  is  now,  conducted,  under  the  supervision 
of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  by  a  competent  staff  of  secular 
priests  and  laymen  as  professors  and  tutors. 

The  fact  that  Canon  Sheehan  in  his  novels  frequently 
relates  personal  experiences  and  impressions  may  lead 
readers  of  Geoffrey  Austin,  who  are  not  familiar  with  the 
circumstances,  to  suspect  that  St.  Colman's  furnished  him 
with  the  characteristics  of  college  Hfe  described  in  that 
story.  This  would  be  an  error.  So  far  as  the  detailed 
descriptions  of  "Mayfield"  correspond  to  any  actual  lo- 
cality, they  are  those  of  Gayfield  House,  at  Donnybrook, 
DubUn,  a  school  of  that  time  founded  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  secondary  education  for  students  preparing  to 
enter  the  higher  Civil  Service.  This  institution  was  for 
a  time  attended  by  our  author's  brother,  and  it  was  thus 
that  Patrick  Sheehan  became  acquainted  with  some  of  its 
features.  They  are  not  and  were  not,  of  course,  peculiar 
to  any  one  establishment  of  the  kind. 

With  this  reservation,  however,  we  may  assume  that 
the  characteristic  tendencies  in  the  student  life  of  Geoffrey 
Austin  are  identical  with  those  of  young  Sheehan  during  his 
stay  at  Fermoy.  The  teaching  staff  introduced  in  his  sketch 
of  the  Mayfield  school  naturally  offered  him  a  convenient 
opportunity  for  enlarging  on  his  preferences.  The  boy's  pre- 
dominant love  for  the  classics  may  be  traced  to  his  asso- 
ciation with  men  of  whom  he  draws  admirable  pictures  in 
such  characters  as  "Mr.  Dowhng,"  the  professor  of  Greek; 
"Mr.  Ferris,"  the  teacher  of  mathematics,  and  that  odd 
type  of  old-fashioned  simphcity  and  self-effacement,  "Mr. 
Messing,"  who  not  only  engendered  in  his  young  pupil's 
mind  a  love  for  music  and  the  beauties  of  nature,  but 
introduced  him  to  the  mysticism  of  the  German  poets. 

Some  of  the  author's  notes  of  this  period  indicate  his 
growing  determination  to  enter  the  priesthood,  while  at 
the  same  time  they  point  the  direction  in  which  his  facul- 
ties were  tending  for  their  further  development. 

After  a  few  months  at  St.  Colman's  he  returned  for  his 
summer  vacation  to  Mallow,  where  his  elder  sister  had  in 


i8  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

the  meantime  entered  the  Convent  of  Mercy,  and  where 
he  met  once  more  the  former  associates  of  his  schooldays. 
He  writes :  ^ 

I  recall  how  one  beautiful  night  in  August  of  1866,  four  of  us 
young  lads  walked  up  and  down  the  main  street  from  Tuckey's- 
hill  to  Chapel-lane.  It  was  a  glorious  night,  the  moonlight  flood- 
ing the  whole  street  without  throwing  a  shadow  from  the  houses. 
We  were  chatting  about  a  hundred  things.  Then  the  town 
clock  struck  ten,  and  just  at  the  hill  we  paused.  One  of  our 
group,  the  oldest,  said  to  me  who  was  then  at  home  from  St. 
Colman's  for  the  first  holidays:  "What  are  you  going  to 
do  with  yourself.'"'  —  "I  suppose  the  Church,"  I  answered. 
"Ah,"  he  said  with  a  sigh,  "that  was  my  idea,  too.  I  haven't 
had  much  happiness  since  I  abandoned  it."  The  speaker  was 
young  James  O'Brien.  He  could  not  have  been  more  than 
eighteen;  but  they  had  made  him  captain  of  the  revolutionary 
forces.  —  How  well  I  remember  him.  The  strong  square  face, 
dimpled  all  over  with  curious  lines  when  he  smiled;  the  tall 
sinewy  athletic  figure,  the  broad  shoulders,  the  erect  poise  and 
military  gait  of  the  boy.  —  Ay  de  mi  —  what  might  have  been. 

Of  this  same  lad,  James  O'Brien,^  our  author  writes  in 
another  place: 

A  few  months  later,  when  the  snow  was  thick  upon  the  ground, 
he  put  aside  his  civilian  jacket,  and,  like  Emmet,  donned  his  green 
uniform,  slung  his  revolver  around  his  neck,  and  having  slipped 
unobserved  from  the  house,  trudged  along  the  six  miles  to  Bal- 
lynockin,  where  he  met  Captain  Mackey  and  a  contingent  of 
unarmed  men  from  Cork.  They  brought  out  the  women  and 
children  from  the  police  barrack,  and  when  the  men  refused  to 
surrender,  instantly  set  fire  to  the  place.  The  sergeant  and  four 
constables  were  only  saved  from  terrible  death  by  the  interven- 
tion of  the  priest.  Canon  Neville,  who  commanded  the  police 
to  surrender  at  once,  shouting  to  them  that  he  himself  would  see 
them  exonerated  from  all  blame  with  their  superiors.  Then  a 
detachment  of  military  stationed  at  Purcell's  of  Dromore  came  up; 
and    the    unarmed    Fenians    dispersed.     The    next    day    James 

^"Moonlight  of  Memory." 

^  A  brother  of  William  O'Brien,  the  author  of  When  we  were  Boys  and  member 
of  Parliament  successively  for  Mallow,  Tyrone,  and  Cork. 


Chap.  II  ]  ST.   COLMAN'S  —  FERMOY  19 

O'Brien  was  arrested  and  lodged  in  Mallow  Bridewell  for  three 
weeks,  awaiting  trial. 

These  were  stirring  times  everywhere  in  the  south  of 
Ireland,  and  events,  as  young  Sheehan  and  his  fellow 
students  at  St.  Colman's  witnessed  them  at  intervals, 
tended  to  rouse  their  patriotic  feelings  to  the  utmost. 

It  was  in  March  of  that  year  (1867)  about  the  middle  of  the  month, 
while  the  long  flank  of  the  Galtee  mountains  was  a  mass  of  glisten- 
ing ice,  that  the  reports  reached  our  college  of  the  Fenian  forces 
having  been  surrounded  in  Kilcloony-wood.  Peter  O'Neill 
Crowley,  they  said,  had  been  killed  with  English  bullets  on  the 
banks  of  the  mountain  stream.  He  had  previously  ordered  his 
men  to  flee  and  save  themselves.  They  said  it  was  only  at  his 
earnest  entreaty  that  captains  Kelly  and  McClure  had  consented 
to  leave  him  and  withdraw.  Peter  Crowley  himself  had  con- 
tinued to  keep  at  bay  the  entire  British  regiment  and  a  posse  of 
police,  by  dodging  from  tree  to  tree,  and  firing  steadily  at  the 
advancing  soldiers  until  at  last  his  ammunition  gave  out.  When 
he  had  fallen,  pierced  with  bullets,  he  asked  one  of  the  men  for 
a  priest.  Fortunately  Father  Tim  O'Connell,  the  curate  of 
Michelstown,  was  near  by,  knowing  of  the  fray  and  the  danger. 
He  ran  to  the  dying  man's  aid  and  gave  him  the  last  sacraments. 
Crowley's  own  people  came  to  bury  him. 

I  remember  well  the  evening  on  which  that  remarkable  funeral 
took  place.  It  was  computed  that  at  least  five  thousand  men 
took  part  in  the  procession.  They  shouldered  the  cofl[in  of  the 
dead  patriot  over  mountain  and  valley  and  river,  until  they  placed 
the  sacred  burden  down  by  the  sea,  and  under  the  shadow  of 
the  church  of  Ballymacoda.  I  recall  how  a  group  of  us  young 
lads  shivered  in  the  cold  March  wind  on  the  college  terrace  at 
Fermoy,  and  watched  the  dark  masses  of  men  swaying  over  the 
bridge,  the  yellow  coffin  conspicuous  in  their  midst.  We  caught 
another  glimpse  of  the  funeral  cortege  as  it  passed  the  sergeant's 
lodge.     Then  we  turned  away  with  tears  of  sorrow  and  anger. 

He  reflects  upon  the  great  strength  and  fierce  force  that 
lay  in  all  these  men  who 

walked   forever  under  the   shadow  of  the   scaff"old.     Two  years 

later  James  O'Brien,^  who   had   been   sentenced   to   be   hanged, 

1   This  is  no  doubt  James  F.  X.  O'Brien,  M.P. 


20  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  I 

drawn  and  quartered,  but  was  afterwards  set  free,  visited  the 
Presentation  Convent  at  Fermoy  to  see  his  sister  who  was  a 
nun  there.  The  bishop,  who  was  in  Fermoy  at  the  time,  had 
asked  the  Hberated  patriot  to  dine  at  the  college.  Probably  at 
that  time  Dr.  Keane  was  the  most  popular  and  well  beloved 
bishop  in  Ireland.  He  deserved  it.  He  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  strong,  almost  an  extreme  nationalist.  I  was  too  young 
to  understand.  I  only  knew  that  the  newspapers  were  fond  of 
quoting  some  words  which  he  addressed  to  the  students  at  the 
Irish  College  in  Paris:  "Gentlemen,  remember  that  your  first 
duty  is  to  God;  your  second  to  your  country."  This  evening 
Mr.  O'Brien  was  late,  and  dinner  had  been  partly  gone  through 
when  he  arrived.  The  little  quiet  figure  dressed  in  grey  had 
stolen  half  way  up  the  hall  when  he  was  observed.  Then  the 
whole  body  of  priests  and  students  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  gave 
him  an  ovation  that  a  king  might  envy. 

Canon  Sheehan,  in  recalling  these  early  impressions  of  his 
boyhood,  mentions  the  names  of  the  men  who  were  fore- 
most in  the  political  struggle  of  which  he  was  a  silent  but 
interested  witness.  He  describes  among  other  episodes 
the  popular  scenes  on  occasion  of  the  election  of  a  certain 
advocate,  SuUivan,  who  had  been  made  SoHcitor  General 
for  Ireland,  and  who  found  it  necessary  to  contest  the  seat 
for  Mallow.  This  patriot  was  a  popular  speaker  who,  having 
reached  the  high  pinnacle  of  his  ambition,  passed  into 
oblivion  among  his  people,  "for,"  writes  the  Canon, 

it  is  a  remarkable  fact  and  one  that  I  should  like  to  impress  on 
the  minds  of  our  youthful  generation,  that  the  muse  of  Irish 
History  has  a  curious  knack  of  blotting  out  every  name,  no  matter 
how  illustrious  for  a  moment,  that  has  not  served  the  cause  of 
the  motherland;  whilst  she  embalms  forever  in  her  pages  the  very 
humblest  who  have  given  their  lives  to  her  sacred  causes.  I 
suppose  not  one  man  in  a  million  could  tell  to-day  the  name  of 
the  judge  who  sentenced  the  Manchester  martyrs  to  death;  but 
every  Irish  schoolboy  knows  the  name  of  Allen,  Larkin  and  O'Brien. 
Who  can  tell  the  names  of  all  the  distinguished  judges,  attorney 
generals,  crown  advocates,  sergeants  at  law,  who  prosecuted  or 
sentenced  the  patriots  of  1798  or  1848  or  1867?  And  who  can 
forget  Emmet,  Wolfe  Tone,  the  Sheares,  Mitchel,  Martin,  Kick- 


Chap.  II]  ST.  COLMAN'S  —  FERMOY  21 

ham.?  The  Httle  town  by  the  Black  Water  had  given  not  a  few 
able  men  to  the  woolsack  and  bench,  to  the  Church,  to  medicine, 
to  art,  and  to  history.  Yet  no  one  asks  where  these  men  are 
buried,  or  cares  to  see  the  places  where  they  were  born.  But 
every  school  lad  in  Mallow  can  point  out  where  Thomas  Davis 
first  saw  the  light;  or  the  high  house  in  which  WiUiam  O'Brien 
spent  his  boyhood  days. 

Father  She'ehan  adverts  to  the  fact  that  in  those  days 
the  intercourse  between  Protestants  and  Catholics  was 
exceedingly  happy  and  cordial.  These  relations  of  intelli- 
gent fellowship  and  cooperation  in  all  matters  of  civil  and 
social  interest  endured  without  any  loss  to  the  dignity  of 
the  Catholic  faith;  and  they  were  incidentally  shown  with 
touching  unanimity  in  the  tribute  paid  to  Canon  Sheehan 
at  Mallow  on  the  occasion  of  his  death. 

In  1867,  during  the  second  year  of  Patrick's  residence 
at  St.  Colman's,  his  younger  sister,  who  also  had  entered 
the  Convent  of  Mercy  at  Mallow  and  who  in  religion 
was  called  Sister  Mary  Augustine,  fell  seriously  ill.  She  had 
been  a  singularly  bright  child,  with  a  fund  of  humor  that 
made  her  a  general  favorite.  She  had  followed  her  elder 
sister  into  the  religious  life  after  their  return  from  the 
Loreto  school,  and  though  of  naturally  delicate  health, 
had  been  happy  and  active  in  her  new  sphere.  During 
the  summer  she  contracted  a  cold  which  developed  into 
consumption.  She  died  on  7th  of  November,  1868,  after 
making  her  vows  by  a  special  dispensation,  before  the 
expiration  of  her  term  of  novitiate,  on  her  deathbed. 

The  affectionate  relations  existing  between  the  two  boys 
and  their  sisters  had  been  intensified  by  the  temporary 
separation  while  the  former  were  at  college,  and  although 
they  saw  each  other  at  intervals,  the  young  boyish  hearts 
craved  the  nearer  presence  of  those  who  had  guarded 
them  ever  since  the  death  of  their  parents.  The  fresh 
bereavement,  therefore,  came  upon  them  as  an  unlooked-for 
blow  and  a  deep  sorrow. 

Patrick  had  still  another  year  at  St.  Colman's  before 
entering    the    theological    seminary,    a    step    on    which    he 


22  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

was  now  earnestly  resolved,  under  the  direction  of  his 
guardian.  The  latter  enjoyed  the  boy's  fullest  confidence 
as  well  as  reverence,  and  we  picture  him  as  the  "Father 
Costello"  of  Geoffrey  Austin,  at  least  in  the  quality  of  his 
gentle  and  fatherly  spirit,  the  memory  of  which  still  lives 
among  the  old  people  of  Mallow. 

The  college  list  of  honor  students  at  the  end  of  the 
summer  term  of  1868  gives  first  place  to  Patrick  Sheehan 
in  Geometry,  Algebra,  Greek,  History,  and  English  Com- 
position. He  took  second  place  on  the  medal  list  in  Chris- 
tian Doctrine,  third  place  in  Latin,  and  fifth  in  French. 
Accordingly  he  received  premiums  in  all  his  classes. 
Strangely  his  name  is  omitted  from  the  Elocution  class. 
Father  John  Burton,  parish  priest  of  Donoughmore,  who 
entered  St.  Colman's  in  1868,  writes  that  Patrick  Sheehan 
(or  Sheahan,  as  the  name  is  entered  on  the  college  register) 
was  then  regarded  as  the  leading  student,  and  occupied 
the  position  of  prefect  in  the  college. 

On  completing  his  course  at  St.  Colman's  young  Sheehan 
headed  the  list  in  the  Concursus  for  entrance  to  the  higher 
Seminary.  There  had  been  some  prospect  of  his  obtain- 
ing a  place  among  those  who  were  being  selected  to  study 
at  the  Irish  College  in  Rome;  but  as  there  were  two  va- 
cancies at  Maynooth  for  students  from  the  Cloyne  dio- 
cese, it  was  finally  decided  that  he  should  apply  there  for 
admission.  In  after  years  he  greatly  regretted  that  he 
had  not  had  the  opportunity  of  completing  his  studies  in 
Rome,  as  he  considered  it  an  incomparable  adjunct  to  a 
priest's  education  to  imbibe  the  ancient  spirit  of  the  Church 
at  its  fons  et  origo  —  to  have  seen  and  heard  Christ's  Vicar, 
and  to  have  lived  and  dreamed  amidst  the  glorious  monu- 
ments and  temples  of  the  past  in  the  heart  of  the  eternal 
Mother  of  Christendom. 


Ill 

MAYNOOTH 

y4T   the    end    of    August,    1869,    young   Sheehan  went 

/-\  to  Maynooth  to  take  his  examination  for  the 
"^    -^  class  of  Philosophy, 

The  intellectual  and  economic  life  at  Maynooth  was 
at  this  time  in  a  state  of  transition  and  unrest.  The  pass- 
ing of  the  Irish  Church  Act  that  same  year  (1869)  had 
changed  the  civil  status  of  the  college.  The  allowance 
hitherto  made  for  its  support  by  the  Government,  first 
under  the  annual  grant  of  1795,  and  again  in  1845  under 
the  permanent  endowment  fund  proposed  by  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  was  converted  by  the  Gladstone  Act  into  a  temporary 
subsidy,  only  partly  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  this 
great  seat  of  learning. 

Whilst  it  was  a  distinct  advantage  to  have  the  college 
withdrawn  from  the  control  of  the  State,  and  placed  ex- 
clusively under  the  management  of  the  bishops  of  Ireland, 
the  problem  of  its  future  support  had  to  be  solved.  It 
became  necessary,  for  the  time,  to  charge  a  limited  tuition 
fee  at  least  for  students  who  were  not  nominated  to  pre- 
viously established  burses.  The  new  status  called  for  a 
revision  and  amendment  of  the  Constitutions  and  Rules 
governing  the  college.  It  also  necessitated  certain  depar- 
tures from  the  traditional  program  of  studies;  and  this 
in  turn  involved  some  changes  in  the  staff  of  professors. 
Those  in  charge  of  the  great  central  Seminary  for  Ireland 
at  that  time  were  men  of  exceptional  qualifications.  Most 
of  them  had  made  their  mark  in  the  literary  and  scientific 
world.  Among  the  best  known  was  Dr,  P,  A,  Murray, 
author  of  the  Tractatus  theologici;  Dr.  Gerald  Molloy, 
whose  Geology  and  Revelation  was  just  then  being  pub- 
lished and  making  considerable  stir  by  its  originality  and 

23 


24  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

thoroughness  as  a  scientific  analysis  of  exegetical  difficulties. 
There  were  also  Dr.  James  O'Kane,  a  recognized  authority 
in  Christian  Liturgy;  Dr.  George  Crolly,  author  of  De  Jure 
et  Justitia,  and  a  number  of  other  works.  The  professor 
who  probably  exercised  most  influence  on  the  student 
body  was  Dr.  Charles  William  Russell,  the  scholarly  presi- 
dent. He  was  well  versed  in  modern  languages,  was  an 
accomplished  writer  in  English,  translator  of  Leibnitz's 
System  of  Theology,  of  Canon  Schmid's  Tales  for  the  Toung, 
a  regular  contributor  to  the  Dublin  Review,  Edinburgh  Review, 
North  British  Review,  Chambers'  Journal,  The  Month,  etc. 
To  him  someone  had  applied  the  medieval  text 

Ultra  modum  placidus,  dulcis  et  benignus, 
Ob  aetatis  senium  candidus  ut  cygnus, 
Blandus  et  affahilis  et  amari  dignus. 
In  se  Sancti  Spiritus  possidebat  pignus. 

Of  him  Newman,  who  affectionately  dedicates  to  him  his 
Loss  and  Gain,  says:  "My  dear  friend  Dr.  Russell,  the 
President  of  Maynooth,  had  perhaps  more  to  do  with  my 
conversion  than  anyone  else.  .  ,  .  He  was  always  gentle, 
mild,  unobtrusive,  uncontroversial.     He  let  me  alone." 

Under  teachers  of  such  recognized  merit  Maynooth  had 
strengthened  its  reputation  as  a  permanent  abode  of  ad- 
vanced scholarship.  The  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  es- 
tablished a  few  years  before  (in  1864),  was  understood  to 
draw  its  inspiration  largely  from  Maynooth. 

Nevertheless  the  authorities  made  no  secret  of  the  fact 
that  there  was  disagreement  among  the  faculty,  besides 
general  dissatisfaction  with  the  management.  The  routine 
of  studies  had  become  unsettled,  and  there  was  a  recog- 
nized neglect  of  discipline  that  made  student  life  uncom- 
fortable for  those  who  needed  the  strengthening  influence 
of  supervision  and  direction.  To  a  youth  of  Patrick  Shee- 
han's  sensitive  disposition  the  lack  of  orderly  and  positive 
guidance  was  distressing.  His  high  ideal  of  what  a  candi- 
date for  the  sacred  ministry  should  be  had  led  him  to  look 
for  definite   incentives   in   the  training  of  his   intellectual 


Chap.  Ill  ]  MAYNOOTH  25 

and  spiritual  life  at  the  Seminary.  The  actual  state  of 
things  proved  a  disappointment  for  the  time  being.  Arch- 
bishop Healy  of  Tuam,  the  historian  of  Maynooth,  has 
left  us  a  candid  record  ^  of  what  the  discipline  of  the  col- 
lege was  at  this  period;  and  while  there  is  ample  pallia- 
tion in  the  reasons  given  to  explain  the  manner  in  which 
the  Seminary  was  being  conducted,  the  facts  must  be 
reckoned  with  in  accounting  for  the  lack  of  enthusiasm  on 
the  part  of  our  young  seminarist,  and  for  a  certain  distaste 
for  his  studies  which  marked  his  career  at  Maynooth  and 
of  which  he  made  no  disguise. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Patrick  Sheehan  had 
superior  talent,  and  also  that  he  was  well  disposed  to  use 
it.  On  entering  Maynooth  he  had  passed  his  examination 
for  the  Logic  class.  It  should  be  stated  here  that  this 
was  no  easy  task;  in  fact  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
students  who  entered  Maynooth  failed  therein.  For  these 
there  was  an  alternative.  If  they  did  not  pass  Greek  and 
Latin  (which  included  the  free  reading  of  Demosthenes, 
Sophocles,  Longinus,  Tacitus,  etc.).  History  ancient  and 
modern,  and  Mathematics  (Geometry  and  Algebra),  they 
were  tested  for  Rhetoric,  which  was  less  rigorous.  To 
enter  in  Rhetoric  meant  an  additional  year  of  preparatory 
study  before  being  admitted  to  Philosophy.  If  the  student 
failed  in  Rhetoric,  he  was  admitted  to  the  lowest  depart- 
ment, that  of  the  Humanities.  This  arrangement  allowed 
the  student  an  opportunity  to  review  the  studies  in  which 
he  was  weak.  Later  on,  the  Humanities  class  was  entirely 
aboHshed  and  that  of  Rhetoric  took  its  place,  aiming  at 
proficiency  in  the  classics.  To  the  higher  Mathematics, 
as  well  as  Physics  and  Astronomy,  was  given  a  separate 
year,  following  upon  the  study  of  Mental  Philosophy. 

Young  Sheehan's  excellent  preparation  at  St,  Colman's 
enabled  him,  without  much  difficulty,  to  escape  both 
Rhetoric  and  Humanities,  and  he  was  allowed,  despite  his 

1  Maynooth  College  —  Its  Centenary  History.  By  the  Most  Rev.  John 
Healy,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  M.R.I.A.,  1795-1895.  —  Dublin;  Browne  and  Nolan. 
Chap.  XVI.,  "Domestic  Annals." 


26  CANON   SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

youth,  to  take  up  Logic  at  once.  This  fact  shows  him  to 
have  been  a  remarkable  boy,  for  out  of  a  hundred  students 
only  about  five  on  the  average  attained  a  similar  distinction. 

In  estimating  his  subsequent  successes  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  he  was  not  only  younger  than  most  of  his 
companions,  but  that  the  bulk  of  the  students  in  his  class 
had  already  spent  one  or  two  years  at  Maynooth,  in  the 
preparatory  classes. 

The  text-book  was  Jennings's  Logicae  sen  Philosophiae 
Rationalis  Compendium.  William  Jennings  had  taught 
philosophy  at  Maynooth  from  1852  to  1862.  The  first  half 
of  the  annual  term  was  devoted  to  Logic,  the  second  to 
Metaphysics  and  Ethics. 

To  Patrick  Sheehan  this  new  branch  of  study  was  a  sore 
disappointment.  His  distaste  may  be  attributed  to  a  variety 
of  causes,  apart  from  the  method  of  teaching  in  vogue  at  the 
the  time.  The  boy's  poetic  and  somewhat  contemplative 
turn  inclined  him  naturally  toward  an  eclectic  culture 
which  found  little  satisfaction  in  the  normal  rigidity  be- 
setting the  study  of  Logic  as  treated  in  Scholastic  Philoso- 
phy. Here  the  student  had  to  face  the  dry-as-dust  matter 
of  continuous  definitions,  categories,  and  abstract  dis- 
tinctions. For  fully  a  year  or  more  his  memory  and  under- 
standing were  drilled  in  the  rudiments  of  a  science  the 
terminology  of  which  was  new,  and  quite  alien  to  that  of 
his  former  studies.  What  added  to  his  difficulties  was  the 
fact  that  the  language  of  the  professor  and  of  the  text- 
book was  for  the  most  part  Latin,  which,  though  he  was 
able  to  translate  it,  he  had  not  yet  learned  to  use  as  a 
medium  of  thinking.  There  was  lacking  too  in  the  method 
of  teaching  these  disciplines  that  concrete  form  of  illus- 
tration which  gives  to  ordinary  studies,  even  of  science,  a 
definite  attraction.  In  short,  the  student  was  being  taught 
the  methods  of  abstraction;  simultaneously  he  learnt  how 
to  define  his  impressions  and  to  attain  the  habit  of  trans- 
lating these  impressions  into  inductions  or  deductions  on 
which  to  base  his  arguments  for  truth.  It  was  a  weary 
process   which,   whilst   not   unprofitable   as   a   mental   dis- 


Chap.  Ill]  MAYNOOTH  27. 

cipline,  could  in  most  cases  be  supplied  by  the  spontane- 
ous development  of  that  natural  gift  called  common  sense. 

Nor  was  this  unattractive  novelty  of  study  relieved  by 
the  pursuit  simultaneously  of  the  higher  Mathematics,  the 
physical  sciences  or  Astronomy,  and  kindred  disciplines, 
sometimes  added  to  the  course  of  Philosophy. 

Where  the  program  of  scholastic  studies  is  not  all  too 
absorbing,  the  tyro  in  the  domain  of  Logic  and  metaphysical 
science  is  permitted,  if  not  invited,  to  disport  himself  in 
the  attractive  hortus  conclusus  of  the  muses  and  of  polite 
literature.  Here  he  meets  with  new  and  to  him  dehghtful 
philosophical  speculations,  of  which  at  this  age  he  begins 
to  get  his  first  taste,  causing  him  to  appreciate  the  value  of 
what  he  had  touched  or  seen,  but  could  not  enjoy  before. 

In  the  case  of  young  Sheehan  this  latter  opportunity 
was  somewhat  limited,  if  not  frowned  upon  by  some  of  the 
men  who  had  charge  of  arranging  the  curriculum  of 
studies.  Pope  Pius  IX  had  shortly  before  issued  his  famous 
Encyclical  Quanta  Cura,  directed  against  the  modern 
naturalism,  with  its  crop  of  Communism-  and  Socialism. 
Simultaneously  the  Syllabus  of  1864  had  been  sent  to  all 
the  bishops,  pointing  out  that  adherence  to  the  old  tradi- 
tions of  the  Church's  teaching  and  the  approved  scholastic 
methods  in  our  seminaries  was  the  only  proper  antidote 
to  the  virus  which  was  being  distilled  into  young  minds  by 
the  popular  philosophies  at  the  secular  universities.  On 
the  other  hand  there  were  also  to  be  combated  the  in- 
sinuating doctrines  of  Jansenism  which  had  strangely  clung 
to  the  theological  seminaries  of  France.  Hither  many 
of  the  Irish  students  had  been  obliged  to  turn  for  their 
ecclesiastical  training.  These  brought  back  with  them  to 
Ireland  French  books,  French  manners,  and  French  piety.^ 
A   third    danger   was    apprehended    from   the    false   tradi- 

1  At  one  time  the  professors  at  Maynooth  were  largely  drawn  from  the  French 
clergy  expatriated  during  the  Revolution,  and  French  was  almost  exclusively 
spoken  at  table,  a  fact  that  caused  considerable  resentment  among  those  who 
were  not  accustomed  to  the  language.  Dr.  George  Crolly  in  one  of  his  memoirs 
tells  of  a  conspiracy  among  the  native  professors  to  talk  "Irish"  only.  (Life  of 
Archbishop  William  Crolly,  p.  xxiii.) 


28  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

tionalism  propounded  with  much  ingenuity  by  men  hke 
Bonetty  and  his  school,  who  made  the  Annales  de  Phi- 
losophie  Chrctienne  their  organ. 

In  the  effort  to  combat  these  errors  and  to  promote  the 
reform  of  studies  on  the  hnes  prescribed,  the  authorities 
insisted  on  a  thorough  course  of  fundamental  philosophy 
in  harmony  with  scholastic  tradition.  They  also  deemed 
it  advisable  to  limit  the  programs  of  studies  by  abolishing 
the  chair  of  Humanities;  and  although  this  measure  was 
not  at  once  carried  out,  the  avowed  purpose  to  do  so  natu- 
rally tended  to  create  an  atmosphere  of  discouragement  for 
those  who  showed  some  preference  for  belles  lettres. 

It  were  not  surprising  if  under  these  circumstances 
Patrick  Sheehan  had  failed  to  correspond  at  once  to  the 
expectations  of  intellectual  alertness  to  which  his  previous 
record  at  St.  Colman's  had  given  rise.  He  himself,  as 
already  stated,  was  thoroughly  disappointed  at  missing 
those  impulses  in  the  direction  of  his  studies  which  stimu- 
late thought  and  arouse  a  healthy  ambition  toward  higher 
achievement.  In  reality  he  found  that  the  alternative  of 
the  didactic  drudgery  of  the  Logic  class  had  to  be  sought 
in  the  equally  dry  practice  of  catechetical  exercises.  The 
students  in  Philosophy  were  required  to  write  at  regular 
intervals  essays  on  moral  and  doctrinal  subjects,  much 
as  they  might  be  expected  to  do  in  Ethics  or  Theology. 
The  purpose  of  this  method  was,  of  course,  admirable,  and 
may  in  some  cases  have  produced  good  fruit.  It  was  cal- 
culated to  supply  a  systematic  stimulus  toward  the  higher 
ecclesiastical  studies  which  lay  before  the  student,  and 
which  would  prepare  him  for  the  work  of  orthodox  teach- 
ing in  harmony  with  the  general  reform  movement.  But 
it  also  accounts  for  the  fact  that  our  collegian  "found  his 
scholastic  studies  dry  and  uninteresting,  not  understanding 
their  application  and  practical  importance."  As  a  proof 
that  Patrick  Sheehan,  despite  these  drawbacks,  gave  ample 
satisfaction  to  his  professor  of  Philosophy,  we  have  the 
fact  that  at  the  end  of  the  term  he  was  allowed  to  "jump" 
the  class  of  Natural   Philosophy  and  enter  at  once  on  his 


Chap.  Ill]  MAYNOOTH  29 

Theology  course.  Down  to  the  end  of  his  Hfe  he  showed 
a  preference  for  studies  in  physical  science  and  particularly 
for  Astronomy.  His  early  proficiency  in  these  branches 
warranted  his  being  dispensed  from  the  regular  class  drill 
therein. 

The  theological  course  proper  covered  three  years.  The 
principal  text-book  hitherto  in  use  was  Thomas  de  Charmes, 
an  author  whose  Jansenistic  tendencies  had  not  yet  been 
sufficiently  modified  by  the  revisions  of  Desorges  and  later 
writers.  Subsequently  Perrone  and  Gury  were  intro- 
duced, but  for  a  time  the  two  branches  of  moral  and 
dogmatic  theology  were  still  being  taught  after  the  mind 
of  the  old  teachers  who  had  a  fair  claim  to  veneration. 
By  a  special  provision  incorporated  in  the  Rules  of  the 
Maynooth  Seminary,  the  future  professors  were  to  be 
drawn  largely  from  the  Dunboyne  Establishment.  These 
students,  since  they  followed  a  somewhat  longer  course 
than  the  rest,  were  elected  to  act  as  tutors  for  the  others. 
It  seems  doubtful  whether  or  no  this  arrangement  con- 
tributed to  the  improvement  of  discipline. 

Whatever  discouraging  effect  the  above  mentioned  con- 
ditions had  upon  the  young  seminarist,  they  could  not 
fully  strip  him  of  the  enthusiasm  for  the  classics  in  which 
he  had  made  a  success  at  Fermoy;  and  indeed  he  seems 
to  have  sought  every  opportunity  which  his  present  position 
afforded  to  follow  his  natural  bent  in  that  direction.  From 
some  of  the  instructors  he  received  a  certain  amount  of 
encouragement.  Such  were  the  Rev.  Hugh  O'Rourke  of 
the  Tuam  diocese,  who  also  taught  the  French  class;  and 
another  Dunboyne  man,  the  Rev.  Edward  O'Brien.  But 
these  were  not  his  regular  professors  during  most  of  the 
course. 

Being  an  untiring  reader,  he  exercised  his  intellectual 
energies  in  many  directions  covering  a  large  field  of  useful 
information.  And  although  his  browsing  in  the  literary 
close  of  the  college  library  was  both  limited  and  of  a  desul- 
tory nature,  it  afforded  him  a  welcome  substitute  for  the 
somewhat  unpalatable  provender  of  the  class-room. 


30  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  I 

Far  back  in  the  'sixties  literature  had  to  be  studied  surrep- 
titiously, and  under  the  uncongenial,  but  very  effective,  shadow 
of  Perrone  or  Receveur.  It  was  a  serious  thing  to  be  detected 
in  such  clandestine  studies,  and  I  dare  say  our  superiors  were 
quite  right  in  insisting  that  we  should  rigidly  adhere  to  the  system 
of  pure  scholasticism,  which  was  a  college  tradition.  But  was 
not  our  President  one  of  the  greatest  of  European  litterateurs? 
And  what  danger  could  deter  us  from  the  sawpits  of  logic  into  the 
garden  of  literature  —  from  Barbara,  Celarent,  Darii,  into  the 
moonlight  and  melody  of  Tennyson?  ^ 

It  was  in  the  library  then  that  he  sought  the  consola- 
tions of  philosophy  and  the  solution  of  its  riddles.  The 
modern  literati  on  the  bookshelves  were  all  the  more  in- 
viting in  that  they  spoke  in  the  vernacular.  The  numerous 
restrictions  which  the  college  rules  placed  on  the  junior 
students  in  the  matter  of  reading  may  have  served  to 
concentrate  his  attention  upon  sources  that  were  accessible. 
Only  by  special  permission  were  the  "philosophers"  al- 
lowed to  enter  the  general  library,  containing  about  forty 
thousand  volumes.  There  were,  however,  some  separate 
reading-rooms  in  which  a  number  of  select  books  on  vari- 
ous subjects  could  be  obtained.  It  was  here  that  the 
young  student  found  his  chief  solace. 

One  of  the  authors  that  attracted  him  particularly  was 
Thomas  Carlyle,  who  was  then  considered  among  popular 
critics  one  of  the  champions  of  modern  philosophy.  Carlyle 
had  made  two  visits  to  Ireland;  one  of  which  (in  1866) 
occurred  when  Patrick  Sheehan  was  still  at  St.  Colman's 
College.  The  ovations  given  to  the  Scotch  philosopher, 
just  then  elected  Lord  Rector  of  Edinburgh  University, 
over  Disraeli,  who  was  also  a  candidate  for  the  place  of 
hqnor,  had  aroused  a  genuine  enthusiasm  among  the  col- 
legians of  Ireland.  Apart  from  the  brilHancy  of  his  dic- 
tion, the  rare  charm  attaching  to  his  theories,  ethical, 
religious,  and  political,  exercised  a  temporary  fascination 
upon  our  student.  He  found  moreover  many  traits  in  the 
author  of  Sartor  Resartus  that  touched  a  kindred  note  and 

*  Books  that  influenced  Luke  Delmege.     Irish  Monthly,  February,  1902. 


Chap.  Ill]  MAYNOOTH  31 

wakened  his  personal  sympathy.  Carlyle's  taste  for 
mathematics,  his  appreciation  of  the  hterature  of  the 
ancients,  even  though  he  had  acknowledged  he  had  only 
a  limited  acquaintance  with  them,  his  freedom  in  criticizing, 
and  a  touch  of  serious  satire  by  which  he  knew  how  to 
chastise  irreverent  flippancy  in  the  advocates  of  pure  ag- 
nosticism, —  these  notes  exercised  a  powerful  influence 
over  the  imagination  of  the  youth.  The  study  of  Carlyle 
taught  him,  as  he  tells  us,  to  appreciate  German  literature. 

Although  in  later  years  Canon  Sheehan's  estimate  of 
Carlyle's  merits  underwent  considerable  modification,  bring- 
ing distrust  and  even  a  positive  dislike  for  the  Sage  of 
Chelsea,  both  because  of  his  attitude  toward  the  Church 
and  his  disapproval  of  Gladstone's  Home  Rule  policy, 
this  change  did  not  interfere  with  his  studies  of  German 
literature  then  or  later  on.  He  shows  a  special  fondness 
for  Jean  Paul  Richter,  the  gentle  satirist,  who  loved  Httle 
children  and  who  had  a  delicately  sensitive  appreciation  of 
the  secret  beauties  of  nature,  albeit  he  was  able  to  put 
a  very  sharp  edge  on  his  really  sound  criticism  of  human 
depravity. 

During  this  period  Tennyson  was  writing  in  the  English 
magazines  parts  of  his  Idylls  of  the  King,  the  dreamy  beauty 
of  which  cast  its  charm  over  our  young  student,  who 
memorized  whole  pages  of  it.  In  later  years  he  found  much 
to  criticize  in  Tennyson's  archaic  ideahsm.  But  he  sought 
to  imitate  the  exquisite  forms  of  the  great  word-carver, 
even  though  he  discovered  in  them  the  marks  of  the  chisel 
and  of  the  file.  Wordsworth  soothed  him,  despite  the 
lack  of  virility  that  separates  the  Cumberland  poet  from 
great  classics  like  Shakespeare  and  Goethe,  the  latter  of 
whom  Sheehan  found  too  pagan,  and  the  former  too  human, 
to  admire  without  reserve.  Swinburne,  "supreme  melodist 
of  the  language,  magician  who  makes  music  as  of  heaven 
out  of  the  discordant  elements  of  the  English  tongue, 
master  of  alliteration  and  artistic  antithesis,"  is  to  him 
but  a  preacher  of  voluptuousness  and  a  portrayer  of  subtle 
and  insinuating  passion. 


32  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

Next  to  Milton,  Shelley,  and  Keats  he  was  attracted  by- 
Browning,  and  even  more  by  Ruskin,  as  might  be  expected. 
When  later  on  he  began  to  study  Italian,  he  became  enam- 
ored of  the  gems  of  Tuscan  poetry,  and  especially  of  Dante's 
Divina  Commedia.  How  well  he  assimilated  all  this,  and 
other  attractive  literature,  is  amply  apparent  from  his 
earlier  books,  notably  his  reveries  Under  the  Cedars  and 
the  Stars,  and  among  his  novels,  most  perhaps  in  The 
Triumph  of  Failure. 

The  student  at  Maynooth  was  by  no  means  hiding  the 
talents  God  had  given  him.  What  he  was  acquiring  was 
to  be  of  immense  service  to  him  in  later  years  both  for 
the  effective  performance  of  his  pastoral  ministry  and  in 
the  practice  of  that  wider  apostolate  which  he  exercised 
through  his  writings.  For  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  habit 
of  reading  he  indulged  while  at  Maynooth  tended  to  ripen 
his  judgment,  and  make  him  familiar  with  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  the  actual  leaders  of  his  day.  Their  views, 
even  if  not  in  conformity  with  the  high  standard  of  Catho- 
lic doctrine,  were  none  the  less  of  great  value  to  him,  since 
they  indicated  the  attitude  of  the  popular  mind  as  con- 
trasted with  the  demands  of  Christian  faith.  That  faith 
was  deeply  planted  in  his  heart,  together  with  the  in- 
herited piety  which  his  guardian  and  parish  priest.  Father 
McCarthy,  had  pledged  him  solemnly  to  hold  sacred. 
There  is  among  Sheehan's  later  descriptions  one  which  seems 
to  reflect  his  disposition  at  this  period.  It  is  the  touching 
scene  in  Geoffrey  Justin,  in  which  the  venerable  pastor 
takes  his  young  pupil,  on  the  eve  of  his  leaving  for  college, 
with  him  to  the  cemetery  of  his  native  town. 

We  strolled  along  from  grave  to  grave,  and  he  told  me  the 
story  of  the  occupant  of  each,  and  he  vied  with  the  epitaphs  in 
charitableness,  until  at  last  we  came  to  the  spot  where  my  own 
father  and  mother  and  sisters  ^  were  laid.  We  knelt  and  prayed 
together.  As  I  rose  he  pressed  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  that  I 
might  remain  kneeling.  Then  he  said,  and  it  was  dreadfully 
solemn:  —  "Next  after  the  sanctuary  and  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
1  The  sisters  were  burled  apart. 


Chap.  Ill]  MAYNOOTH  33 

I  know  no  place  more  sacred  than  this.  You  are  kneeling  near 
the  sleeping  forms  of  those  who  gave  you  life,  and  were  linked 
with  you  in  that  love  which  perishes  not  nor  decays.  I  make 
no  doubt  they  are  watching  you  now;  and  if  anything  disturbs 
their  eternal  peace,  it  is  their  anxiety  about  the  years  that  are 
speeding  towards  you,  and  will  be  yours  to  make  or  mar  for 
better,  for  worse.  But  one  thing  I  ask  you  to  promise  me  in 
their  presence;  you  will  never  let  a  morning  pass  without  placing 
yourself  in  the  presence  of  God.  Do  you  promise?"  —  "I  prom- 
ise." I  rose  from  my  knees  as  the  knights  rose  at  the  presence 
of  their  phantom  king,  and  we  went  home.  And  as  we  went 
he  said  many  things  to  me  which  I  had  never  heard  before; 
and  the  mysteries  of  life  and  immortality  were  made  very  plain 
to  me,  in  lessons  which  have  been  as  a  staff  to  the  hand  and  as 
bread  in  the  wilderness  to  the  weary.^ 

It  was  this  faith  and  piety  that  kept  the  young  man 
safe  from  intellectual  and  moral  harm  amid  untutored 
wanderings  through  many  a  field  that  might  have  proved 
a  snare  to  a  less  fortified  mind.  Even  while  he  was  drawn 
to  the  speculations  of  Kant,  Fichte,  and  Schelling,  as  others 
have  been  drawn,  he  began  to  analyze  their  theories  of  life. 
In  this  way  he  made  his  subsequent  study  of  theology  at 
once  interesting  and  profitable,  for  he  cleared  his  thought 
on  such  subjects  of  doctrine  as  required  the  application  of 
a  sterling  philosophical  test.  The  instinct  of  a  grace-given 
faith,  and  the  teaching  system  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
preserved  him  from  the  allurements  of  rationalism  which 
breathes  through  much  of  the  popular  German  literature 
cultivated  by  him  at  this  time.  His  notes  on  these  sub- 
jects, collected  in  later  years,  and  presented  without  any 
show  of  systematic  arrangement,  just  as  though  they  were 
the  outcome  of  his  speculative  moods  in  hours  of  leisure, 
give  evidence  of  the  care  with  which  he  garnered  the  fruits 
of  his  apparently  desultory  reading  and  study. 

Meanwhile  he  was  thoroughly  conscientious  in  his  class 
work,  as  is  evident  from  the  college  records.  During  the 
three   years    of  his   theological    course   he   was    invariably 

^  Chap.  I,  "My  Guardian,"  p.  9.     (First  Edition.) 


34  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

among  those  who  were  detailed  to  write  the  "class  pieces," 
that  is  to  say,  the  men  who,  being  distinguished  in  their 
classes,  were  selected  to  compete  for  honors  at  the  end 
of  the  term.  Of  about  a  hundred  such  picked  students  in 
the  various  departments,  from  all  the  dioceses  of  Ireland, 
he  ranked  as  a  rule  with  the  leaders  in  nearly  every  class. 

In  the  Maynooth  premium  list  of  June  1874,  during  the  last  year 
of  Patrick  Sheehan's  residence,  his  name  stands  first  among  the 
Proxime  accesserunt  in  Sacred  Scripture,  fourth  in  Dogmatic,  and 
sixth  in  Moral  Theology. 

A  classmate  from  Limerick  who  remembered  him  well 
writes:  "In  my  time  at  Maynooth,  Cloyne  diocese  was 
accounted  creme  de  la  creme  of  the  college.  Not  to  men- 
tion his  Lordship  ^  .  .  .  you  had  men  of  sweeping  abilities, 
like  the  late  parish  priest  of  Macroom  (Dr.  Jeremiah 
Murphy);  you  had  men  of  gentle  sanctity,  like  Father 
Keenan,  who  joined  the  Eucharistic  Fathers  and  died 
among  them;  and  you  had  men  like  Canon  Sheehan,  who 
scarcely  uttered  a  word,  but  read  the  heavens,  and 
thought." 

We  have  therefore  to  modify  somewhat  Father  Matthew 
Russell's  estimate  when  he  writes:  "It  remains  a  puzzle 
to  most  men  who  knew  Canon  Sheehan  in  after  days,  and 
realized  that  his  literary  work  as  well  as  his  pastoral  wis- 
dom were  in  truth  the  fruit  of  a  laborious  and  close  appli- 
cation of  the  years  spent  in  the  Seminary,  how  a  youth  of 
such  exceptional  ability  was  able  to  escape  distinction  dur- 
ing his  Maynooth  course  so  completely  that,  since  he  has 
become  famous,  many  who  were  almost  his  contemporaries 
at  college  have  been  slow  to  believe  that  he  ever  was  a 
student  at  Maynooth."^ 

As  Patrick  Sheehan  had  a  naturally  delicate  constitu- 
tion, his  habits  of  close  reading  and  retirement  soon  told 
on  his  health.     He  was  obHged  to  spend  much  of  his  time 

^  Dr.  Browne,  the  present  Bishop  of  Cloyne. 

2  "  Concerning  the  Author  of  My  New  Curate"  in  Ecclesiastical  Review^  Jan- 
uary, 1903. 


Chap.  Ill]  MAYNOOTH  35 

in  the  infirmary.  It  was  while  confined  to  his  bed  at  the 
college,  during  the  month  of  December,  1871,  that  a  letter 
came  to  him  announcing  the  death  of  his  cherished  and 
only  surviving  sister  in  the  Convent  at  Mallow. 

Sister  Mary  Stanislaus,  though  she  had  taken  her  vows 
as  a  Sister  of  Mercy,  had  yet  in  many  ways  continued  to 
act  a  mother's  part  to  young  Patrick  and  his  brother.  It 
had  been  a  great  joy  to  her  heart  to  see  him  enter  the 
Seminary.  She  had  looked  forward  with  a  sister's  affec- 
tionate faith  to  the  day  when  he  would  be  ordained  to  the 
priesthood,  and  when  he  might  celebrate  his  first  Mass  in 
his  native  town  of  Mallow,  where  she  was  teaching  the 
little  children  of  the  parish  school.  Meanwhile  she  had 
encouraged  him  by  her  letters  and  on  his  visits  to  Mallow. 
It  was  but  natural  that  he  should  lean  on  her,  and  that 
she  should  fill  the  large  void  but  recently  left  in  the  boy's 
heart  by  the  death  of  little  Margaret,  who  had  given  him 
all  the  sunshine  of  her  bright  disposition  while  at  home  and 
at  Fermoy,  that  she  might  help  him  to  forget  the  loss  of 
his  parents.  One  who  knew  the  two  girls  when  they  were 
about  to  leave  school  for  the  cloister  speaks  of  their  re- 
markably sweet  and  genial  dispositions.  The  nuns  who 
recall  them  later  in  the  community  describe  them  as  cheer- 
ful, bright,  industrious,  and  as  edifying  all  with  whom 
they  came  in  contact  by  their  sprightliness,  their  piety, 
and  the  high  sense  of  reHgious  obligation  which  animated 
them  from  first  to  last.  They  possessed,  both  of  them, 
exceptional  talents,  though  in  directions  widely  apart,  the 
one  being  of  rather  artistic  temperament,  while  the  other 
excelled  in  teaching  and  administrative  ability. 

Sister  Mary  Stanislaus  had,  after  her  rehgious  profes- 
sion, been  engaged  for  some  years  as  directress  in  the  parish 
schools.  Her  energetic  spirit  was  concentrated  upon  her 
work,  which  called  at  the  time  for  the  full  exercise  of  her 
talent  as  organizer,  for  the  national  schools  were  passing 
through  a  new  crisis  under  changed  State  legislation, 
which  put  the  bishops  at  pains  to  raise  the  standard  of 
Catholic    training.      Although    not    of   robust    health,    her 


36  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

cheerful  and  unselfish  disposition  amid  her  work  had  hid- 
den all  indications  that  the  disease  which  had  carried 
her  sister  to  the  grave  was  now  slowly  but  surely  making 
her  its  victim  also.  When  finally  she  succumbed,  and  was 
obliged  to  take  to  her  bed,  she  not  only  retained  her  spirit 
of  resignation,  but  seemed  to  be  pleased  that  God  allowed 
her  to  make  the  sacrifice  of  her  fife.  It  meant,  too,  the 
sacrifice  of  her  share  in  the  progress  of  her  cherished  brother, 
—  but  then  she  would  witness  his  consecration  from  her 
home  in  heaven.^ 

And  with  the  approaching  trial  of  death  she  was  to 
miss  even  his  last  visit  to  her  sick-bed.  For  when  her  own 
death  came,  he  was  ill  and  unable  to  go  to  her  for  a  last 
earthly  farewell.  She  had  withheld  the  knowledge  of  her 
illness  from  him  to  the  last,  because  she  knew  how  it  would 
grieve  him;  and  now  it  was  too  late. 

To  his  deep  attachment  and  the  wound  which  this  be- 
reavement caused  in  his\  heart  he  bore  witness  in  after 
years.  One  day,  while  he  was  engaged  in  writing  the  death 
scene  of  young  Alice  Dean  in  The  Triumph  of  Failure,  a 
friend    found    him    in   tears    over   his    manuscript.      When 

1  To  a  nun  who  was  very  fond  of  her,  and  who  on  being  called  to  another  mission 
was  bidding  her  farewell,  she  said:  "Whenever  you  visit  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
dear  Sister,  and  kneel  before  the  little  lamp  in  front  of  the  tabernacle,  say  for  me 
to  our  dearest  Lord:  'May  Sister  Stanislaus  live  and  be  consumed  for  Thee  alone!'  " 
At  a  time  when  the  disease  had  been  particularly  trying  and  when  she  had  been 
left  for  some  time  to  herself,  the  nun  attending  her  found  on  her  bed  the  following 
reflection,  written  in  pencil,  and  as  though  in  answer  to  one  who  had  sj^mpathized 
with  her  in  the  heaviness  of  her  cross. 

THAT  CROSS 

It  comes  to  me  on  Angel's  wings; 

It  comes  from  the  throne  of  the  King  of  kings; 

It  comes  as  an  arrozv  from  the  Sacred  Heart, 

To  wound  my  soul  with  its  fiery  dart. 

It  comes  to  prove  if  my  heart  is  His  ozvn, 

If  in  sorrow  as  in  joy  I  am  His  alone. 

Oh,  shall  I  not  think  me  a  favored  dove 

To  receive  from  my  God  this  gift  of  love. 

This  gift  —  His  choicest, 

This  gift  from  on  high  — 

For  Jesus  to  suffer,  for  Jesus  to  die! 


Chap.  Ill  ]  MAYNOOTH  37 

asked  the  cause  of  his  grief,  he  answered  simply  that  he  had 
been  recalHng  memories  of  his  elder  sister.  To  the  hour  of 
his  death  he  kept  near  him  a  small  embroidered  leather 
frame  containing  some  strands  of  his  two  sisters'  hair  neatly 
braided  together;  and  a  httle  before  the  end  came  he 
showed  it  to  his  nurse  with  a  touching  reminder  of  the 
love  he  bore  them. 

There  is  a  passage  in  Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars  in 
which  he  refers  to  this  sister.  "Strange,  I  never  felt  the 
proximity  of  father  and  mother.  But  my  sisters,  one  in 
particular,  the  only  dark  haired  in  the  family,  has  haunted 
me  through  life.  I  no  more  doubt  of  her  presence  and  her 
hght  touch  on  the  issues  of  my  life,  than  I  doubt  of  the  breath 
of  wind  that  flutters  the  tassle  of  the  biretta  in  my  hand. 
Yet  what  is  strange  is  not  her  nearness  but  her  farness." 
Though  he  never  felt,  as  he  said,  the  proximity  of  his  par- 
ents, he  not  unfrequently  referred  to  their  sterling  piety, 
particularly  that  of  his  father.  He  instanced  the  deep 
devotion  of  the  latter  when  approaching  Holy  Communion. 
"He  invariably  remained  on  his  knees  for  a  full  half  hour," 
a  practice  which  he  taught  his  children  to  follow,  even  while 
they  were  still  quite  young. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  Sister  Mary  Stanislaus,  illness 
obHged  Patrick  Sheehan  to  leave  Maynooth  for  a  pro- 
tracted vacation.  He  remained  absent  for  the  entire  term 
of  1 872-1 873.  During  the  remainder  of  his  residence  at 
the  college  he  suffered  almost  continually  from  nervous 
debility,  and  at  one  time  complained  of  defective  eyesight. 
Nevertheless  he  completed  his  course  the  following  year, 
1874,  with  honors. 

As  he  was  still  too  young  to  be  ordained,  he  was  allowed 
to  return  home.  During  the  few  months  of  comparative 
leisure  at  Mallow  he  prepared  himself  for  the  reception  of 
Holy  Orders,  meanwhile  reviewing  his  studies.  There 
were  many  things  undoubtedly  that  had  escaped  him  in 
the  class-room.  These  now  called  for  examination,  Analy- 
sis, and  reflection  under  the  genial  direction  of  the  local 
clergy  with  whom  he  was  brought  into  new  relationship. 


38  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

It  gave  him  a  different  and  definite  view  of  pastoral  duties. 
As  a  mere  looker-on,  he  could,  while  accompanying  the 
pastor  or  curates  on  sick-calls  or  during  their  visits  to 
the  stations,  compare  the  theory  of  the  theologian  with  the 
practice  of  the  missionary.  He  had  leisure  to  observe  the 
impressions  made  by  different  methods  of  pastoral  minis- 
tration. Thus  this  period  of  his  student  life  was  more 
fruitful  perhaps  than  any  other.  It  caused  him  to  realize 
how  far  the  Seminary  training  in  ideals  ran  short  of  the 
practical  needs  of  parish  Hfe.  He  saw  in  a  wholly  new  light 
many  things  which  he  had  read  of  in  his  text-books  or  heard 
from  the  lecturer's  chair;  and  it  roused  reflections  touch- 
ing the  equipment  of  ecclesiastical  students  to  which  he 
gave  expression  later  on.  Among  his  unfinished  manu- 
scripts there  is  one  on  this  subject  in  which  he  speaks  very 
plainly  of  his  sense  of  unpreparedness  when  confronted 
with  the  outside  world  after  leaving  the  Seminary.  His 
reflections  touch  upon  the  matter  of  both  piety  and  intel- 
lectual training. 

The  success  of  a  Catholic  collegiate  institution,  if  it  is  to  be 
measured  by  its  adaptability  to  the  end  for  which  it  is  founded, 
consists  in  its  implanting  principles  and  habits  of  piety,  which 
will  be  proof  against  the  world's  seductions;  and  principles  of 
theology  and  philosophy,  which  will  serve  in  the  delicate  and 
mysterious  work  of  the  salvation  of  souls. 

The  principles  of  piety  must  be  not  only  an  armour  of  defence, 
but  strong  and  keen  weapons  of  zeal;  and  the  principles  of  learn- 
ing must  not  only  serve  in  the  pulpit  and  confessional,  but  be  also 
the  foundation  of  newer  and  higher  studies  which  will  always 
put  the  secular  priest  far  in  advance  of  his  flock,  even  in  worldly 
learning.^ 

Speaking  of  the  Irish  colleges  in  particular,  he  recognizes 
that  the  system  which  prevails  in  them,  founded  as  it  is  on 
the  teachings  of  the  Fathers  and  the  traditions  of  the 
Church,  is  probably  the  highest  and  most  perfect  that  could 
be  adapted  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  students. 

^Manuscript  on  "Clerical  Studies." 


Chap.  Ill  ]  MAYNOOTH  39 

The  seclusion  from  the  world,  the  regularity  of  life,  the  strict 
apportioning  of  the  student's  time  between  prayer  and  study, 
the  meditation  on  holy  things,  the  example  of  superiors,  and  the 
absence  of  everything  that  could  promote  secular  desires  and 
worldly  ambitions  —  all  these  form  a  catena  around  the  lives  of 
young  Levites  which  keeps  afar  everything  of  evil.^ 

Nevertheless  he  believed  that  the  prevalent  system  in 
use  in  the  Seminary,  the  aim  of  which  is  to  implant  posi- 
tive piety,  suffers  from  a  vital  defect.  That  defect  is, 
summarily  expressed,  the  habitual  appeal  to  the  motive 
of  fear,  rather  than  to  enthusiasm  for  great  and  noble 
achievement  in  the  conquest  of  souls.  There  are  placed 
before  the  candidate  for  the  sacred  ministry  as  incentives 
to  fidelity  which  demand  in  him  high  quaHfications,  the 
dangers  of  missionary  life,  rather  than  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  and  zeal  for  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Should  the  young  student  go  forth  on  the  mission  without  the 
high  ideal  always  to  be  dreamed  of  and  sought  after,  he  will  soon 
fall  a  victim  to  the  worldliness,  if  not  the  vices  that  creep  into 
the  life  of  an  easy  and  sensuous  priest.  The  solvent  influences 
of  that  secularism  which  has  eaten  its  way  into  the  Catholic 
priesthood  as  into  less  sacred  professions,  will  speedily  dis- 
sipate a  fear  that  rests  not  on  lofty  principles.  The  spirit  of  the 
age  will  soon  scatter  to  the  winds  a  timidity  that  dreads  danger 
to  self  rather  than  a  diminution  of  God's  glory.  For  there  is  a 
fear  that  is  born  of  selfishness  as  well  as  a  fear  that  springs  from 
the  dread  possibility  of  being  found  unfaithful.  The  former  will 
not  survive  the  sharp  test  of  time  and  experience.  The  latter, 
if  it  spring  from  enthusiasm  and  Divine  affection,  will  not  fail  in 
the  hour  of  trial.  ^ 

He  discusses  the  conventional  methods  of  daily  medita- 
tion, spiritual  reading,  attendance  at  prescribed  devotional 
exercises  in  a  routine  fashion,  which  produce  no  other  effect 
on  the  average  student  in  the  Seminary  than  a  conscious 
sense  that  he  is  fulfilhng  an  obligation.  What  is  of  much 
greater  importance  in  the  training  of  the  seminarist  is  that 
he  should  learn  the  tremendous  significance  of  these  things 
1  Ibid.  2  iiid^ 


40  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

in  their  application  to  the  care  of  souls.  In  like  manner 
the  student  is  drilled  in  the  perfunctory  performance  of 
the  ritual  ceremonies,  but,  except  during  the  annual  re- 
treats, his  teachers  hardly  ever  insist  on  the  spirit,  the 
wondrous  power  that  flows  from  the  proper  use  of  these 
exercises.  Hence  as  a  priest  he  recites  his  Breviary  in  a 
mechanical  way  and  without  drawing  either  edification  or 
wisdom  from  the  sublime  truths  and  maxims  which  he  pro- 
nounces with  his  lips.  His  daily  Mass  is  a  mere  performance, 
often  hurried;  his  ministry  of  the  sacramental  rites  becomes 
a  sort  of  professional  exercise  without  any  spirit  of  personal 
devotion.  Of  course  the  student  is  told  of  the  great  value 
of  these  functions,  but  he  is  rarely  trained  to  their  appre- 
ciation by  a  deeply  reverent  practice  such  as  will  make 
him  aware,  while  "going  through"  the  ceremonies,  that 
they  have  any  devotional  and  spiritual  fruit.  The  seminarist 
is  taught  silence  as  a  discipline  rather  than  as  a  principle 
the  value  of  which  is  perennial.  He  is  taught  punctu- 
ality as  a  matter  of  rule,  not  as  a  vital  element  in  priestly 
perfection.  He  wears  the  Roman  collar  and  the  ecclesi- 
astical garb  as  a  distinction  that  is  apt  to  increase  his  self- 
esteem;  but  he  is  rarely  reminded,  unless  he  violates 
decorum,  that  this  distinction  is  intended  to  bind  him  to 
a  continuous  consciousness  of  the  obligation  to  cultivate 
perfection,  whereby  his  conduct  and  piety  shall  be  lifted 
above  .that  of  the  faithful.     Father  Sheehan  would  have 

professors,  deans,  and  especially  confessors,  insist  upon  those 
truisms  of  religion,  which,  alas,  the  young  priest  will  be  often 
tempted  to  deny  or  forget:  that  religion  and  religious  truth  are 
a  dread  reality;  that  we  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon;  that 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  must  not  be  taken  figuratively,  nor 
applied  with  selection  and  discrimination;  that  the  Divine 
Teacher  meant  what  He  said;  and  surely  if  any  body  of  men 
should  follow  His  counsels  of  perfection  it  should  be  His  priests.^ 

He  recognized  a  certain  stereotyped  use  of  language 
which  leaves  one  at  times  under  the  impression  that  the 
student  of  theology  has  no  practical  grasp  of  certain  prin- 

1  Ibid. 


Chap.  Ill  ]  MAYNOOTH  41 

ciples,  but  satisfies  himself  with  their  theoretical  accept- 
ance in  order  to  meet  the  obligation  which  they  impose. 
He  likewise  instances  certain  forms  of  speech  current 
among  the  clergy  such  as  "respectable  positions  in  the 
Church,"  "high  and  well-merited  dignities,"  "right  of 
promotion,"  etc.  These  phrases,  Hke  others,  as  "getting 
a  better  parish,"  "a  poor  living,"  indicate  a  worldly  view 
of  the  apostolate  that  professes  to  glory  in  the  humility 
and  poverty  of  Christ. 

Only  too  soon  will  the  young  Levite  learn  to  despise  the  self- 
efFacement,  the  shy  and  retiring  sensitiveness,  the  gentleness  and 
humility  that  are  such  bright  and  beautiful  ornaments  of  a  real 
priestly  character:  and  only  too  soon  will  he  set  his  heart  upon 
those  vulgar  and  artificial  preferments  which  the  world  prizes, 
but  God  and  His  angels  loathe  and  laugh  at.  At  least  in  the 
Garden  of  the  Beloved,  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord,  let  such  things 
not  be  even  named.  Let  the  only  ambition  of  the  student  be  to 
serve  Christ,  his  only  love  that  of  His  Master,  his  only  decoration 
be  his  priestly  dignity,  his  only  reward  that  of  the  Beloved 
Disciple.^ 

With  regard  to  the  intellectual  training  imparted  in 
ecclesiastical  colleges,  he  adverts  to  its  exclusiveness. 

The  general  verdict  on  our  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Colleges  is  that 
they  impart  learning,  but  not  culture  —  that  they  send  out  learned 
men,  but  men  devoid  of  the  graces,  the  "sweetness  and  light"  of 
modern  civilization.  —  It  may  be  questioned  whether,  in  view  of 
their  mission  and  calling,  this  is  not  for  the  best.^ 

Nevertheless,  advancing  civilization  makes  certain  de- 
mands on  our  growing  population  and  calls  for  adjustments 
in  whatever  is  seen  to  possess  a  refining  influence  on  life. 
Of  this  culture  the  priest  must  take  account  in  the  interests 
of  the  Christian  religion  and  the  Church  of  which  he  is  a 
representative.  Father  Sheehan  is  careful  to  define  for  us 
the  meaning  of  the  culture  which  he  advocates  in  the  train- 
ing of  the  seminarist.  Culture  literally  means  "tillage  of 
the  soil,   the   artificial   improvement  of  qualities   supplied 

1  Ibid.  2  iii^^ 


42  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

by  nature."  He  quotes  John  Addington  Symonds  in  cor- 
roboration of  his  view  that  true 

culture  is  the  raising  of  previously  educated  intellectual  faculties 
to  their  highest  potency  by  the  conscious  eflFort  of  their  possessors. 
Therefore  it  presupposes  learning;  and  it  means  in  a  certain 
sense  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  training.  Thus  when  the 
character  is  formed  each  mental  force,  whether  it  belongs  to  the 
contemplative  or  to  the  active  order,  each  self,  so  cultivated,  will 
possess  the  privilege  insisted  on  by  the  poet  of  being  able  to  "live 
resolvedly  in  the  whole,  the  good,  the  beautiful"  —  not  in  the 
warped,  the  falsified,  the  egotistical;  not  in  the  petty,  the  adul- 
terated, the  partial;  not  in  the  school,  the  clique,  the  coterie;  but 
in  the  large  sphere  of  universal  and  enduring  ideas. ^ 

He  holds  that  the  theological  seminary  furnishes  the  first 
condition  of  culture;  that  is,  learning  such  as  is  requisite  for 
the  missionary  work  of  a  priest. 

Our  Irish  Colleges,  if  they  do  not  teach  philosophy  and  theology 
as  at  Rome;  scriptural  exegesis  as  at  St.  Sulpice;  rubrics  and  cere- 
monies as  at  the  English  seminaries;  and  elocution  as  it  is  taught 
in  America;  yet  they  turn  out  the  best  equipped  students  in  the 
world  for  the  exigencies  of  modern  missionary  life.  The  fact 
that  a  priest  studied  at  Maynooth  was  formerly  equivalent  to  his 
possession  of  a  degree.  And  to-day,  in  spite  of  adverse  criti- 
cisms, I  make  bold  to  say,  that  the  staff  of  professors  at  Maynooth 
.  .  .  gives  promise  to  maintain  all  the  traditions  that  belong  to 
the  teaching  staff  of  the  greatest  ecclesiastical  Seminary  in  the 
world.^ 

But  this  recognition  does  not  blind  him  to  the  fact 
that  frequently  the  teaching,  especially  of  Philosophy,  is 
perfunctory. 

It  may  be  quite  right  to  regard  Philosophy  as  the  key  to  The- 
ology, or  rather  the  vestibule  to  the  temple  of  the  queen  of  sciences, 
and  to  make  it  therefore  the  initial  science  into  which  the  alumnus 
is  inducted.  But  considering  its  importance,  its  intricacy,  and 
its  singular  involutions  of  phrases  and  ideas,  we  should  be  dis- 
posed to  teach  its  rudiments  as  preparatory  to  Theology,  and  its 
1  Ibid.  2  /3j^. 


Chap.  Ill  ]  MAYNOOTH  43 

deeper  and  more  difficult  problems  as  subsequent  and  supple- 
mentary. For  the  Importance  of  Philosophy  is  derived  from  the 
twofold  fact,  that  it  is  the  basis  of  all  intellectual  conclusions  on 
the  great  problems  of  religion  and  faith,  and  that  it  occupies  a 
place  in  contemporary  thought  from  which  Theology  is  summarily 
and  almost  contemptuously  excluded.  This  cannot  be  doubted 
by  any  one  who  has  the  most  superficial  acquaintance  with  modern 
literature.^ 

It  is  important  therefore  to  remember  that  the  popular 
viewpoint  which  excludes  Theology  from  the  domain  of 
the  sciences  does  not  on  that  account  lessen  the  modern 
non-Catholic's  interest  in  Philosophy.  The  thinking  man 
of  the  world  still  regards  it  as  the  medium  for  the  solution 
of  the  moral  or  religious  problems  which  at  all  times  con- 
front us.  He  may  feel  a  natural  aversion  to  the  dogmatic 
attitude  with  which  the  Catholic  Church  approaches  such 
problems;  but  he  also  recognizes  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
dogmatism  of  infidelity,  much  less  reasonable,  which 
materlahsm  has  found  to  be  a  convenient  pretext  for  deny- 
ing the  true  sources  of  all  being.^ 

These  facts,  continues  Father  Sheehan,  make  us  realize 
that  the  priest  of  to-day  has  some  definite  use  for  his  Phi- 
losophy. It  is  supposed  to  answer  all  such  difficulties  as 
are  conjured  up  by  the  skeptic  and  agnostic  mind.  If  a 
cleric  intends  to  show  his  contempt  for  the  speciousness 
of  the  various  theories  advanced  to  support  the  objections 
against  Catholic  truth,  that  contempt  must  be  "based, 
not  on  ignorance  of  their   elemental    theories,   but    on    a 

1  Ibid. 

^  Father  Sheehan  notes  among  other  characteristics  of  the  modern  college 
curriculum  the  prominence  it  assigns  to  the  teaching  of  Philosophy.  There  were  at 
the  time  at  the  University  of  Harvard  in  the  United  States  more  than  seventy 
students  taking  advanced  courses  in  the  study  of  Philosophy.  "Many  of  them," 
says  an  American  writer,  G.  H.  Palmer,  whom  he  quotes,  "intend  to  devote  their 
lives  to  the  subject.  I  asked  twenty  or  thirty  of  them  why  they  had  turned  to 
philosophy.  Nearly  half  answered  that  they  hoped  for  light  on  religious  per- 
plexity. Others  had  met  some  difficulty  in  mathematics,  physics,  literary  criti- 
cism, or  the  care  of  the  poor,  which,  if  followed  up,  became  a  philosophical  problem." 
This  condition  was  not  peculiar  to  New  England.  It  existed  wherever  intellectual 
education  had  had  some  influence  and  opportunity  of  expansion. 


44  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

complete  acquaintance  with  them.  We  need  to  have  all 
the  scorn  of  a  superior  knowledge,  a  superior  philosophy, 
together  with  faith  that  soars  above  systems." 

Elsewhere  Father  Sheehan  adverts  to  the  fact  that  the 
study  of  Catholic  Philosophy  leads  to  a  spiritual  idealism, 
of  great  value  in  the  priestly  hfe.  This  is  a  feature  on 
which  professors  rarely  insist  during  the  Seminary  course. 

If  we  could  inspire  students  and  priests  with  a  desire  for  pur- 
suing these  elevating  studies,  we  would  also  encourage  them  by 
saying  that  there  is  no  necessity  of  limiting  themselves  to  the  dry 
and  rather  deterrent  scholastic  system  of  question,  answer  and 
objection  ...  In  the  pages  of  Catholic  philosophers  and  apolo- 
gists the  great  principles  and  truth  of  Catholic  metaphysics  have 
been  presented  In  a  form  not  more  secure  by  its  consistency  and 
fidelity  than  attractive  by  its  eloquence.  This  is  especially  true 
of  the  French  school.  Bossuet  and  Fenelon  in  more  remote  times, 
Lacordaire,  Gratry,  Montalembert,  Ozanam,  Mairle  de  Biran 
in  our  own,  have  lent  to  Catholic  Philosophy  a  distinct  charm, 
which  has  been  by  too  many  supposed  to  be  the  exclusive  privi- 
lege of  heresy.  Balmez  in  Spain,  Newman  in  England,  and 
Brownson  in  America,  have  clothed  truth  with  elegance  and  style. ^ 

Such  were  Father  Sheehan's  convictions  long  before  he 
had  attained  that  mature  wisdom  of  life  which  kept  him 
intellectually  active  in  his  pastoral  retirement  at  Doneraile. 
They  prove  that  his  reading  had  not  been  without  reflec- 
tion, and  that  his  study  both  in  the  Seminary  and  on  the 
mission  had  been  improved  by  observation  in  all  matters 
of  practical  importance. 

^  Manuscript. 


AT   THE    TIME    OF    HIS    ORDINATION  —  I875 


IV 

PRIESTHOOD 

1875 

PATRICK  SHEEHAN'S  career  hitherto  appears  to 
have  been  one  of  comparative  obscurity.  Certainly 
it  was  a  period  of  disillusionment,  broken  by  spells 
of  illness  and  the  sorrow  that  came  with  the  death  of  those 
whom  he  loved  best.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  of  these 
experiences  affected  him  most.  **The  worst  of  our  own 
sufferings  in  life,"  he  says  in  Sunetoi,  "is  disillusion.  All 
along  through  the  upward  pathway  of  life  we  are  dropping 
fancy  after  fancy,  until  in  middle  age  we  stand  bare  of  every 
beautiful  idea  that  helped  us  to  soar  above  the  banalities 
of  existence,  and  bear  our  crosses  at  least  with  equanimity." 
He  had  not  enjoyed  the  full  benefit  of  that  "real  academy 
of  life"  which  a  boy  finds  in  the  domestic  circle,  nor  had  he 
formed  any  notable  new  friendships  at  college  that  would 
be  a  present  solace  to  him. 

There  was  indeed  one  who  still  took  the  place  of  parent 
in  his  regard,  and  whose  beneficent  influence  on  the  forma- 
tion of  his  character  was  to  be  of  permanent  value  in  his 
future  career.  The  spiritual  guidance,  the  encouragement 
and  protection  of  Father  McCarthy,  had  never  failed  him 
during  all  these  years  of  his  adolescence;  and  the  associa- 
tion had  had  an  ennobling  effect  on  the  young  cleric. 

While  the  student  from  Maynooth  was  getting  a  special 
course  in  pastoral  theology  under  the  tutorship  of  his 
guardian  at  Mallow,  the  latter  was  unexpectedly  informed 
of  his  appointment  as  Bishop  of  Cloyne.  The  consecra- 
tion took  place  in  October,  1874;  and  Bishop  McCarthy 
repaired  to  Queenstown,  which  city  had,  since  the  restora- 
tion, become  the  episcopal  residence. 

45 


46  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year  Patrick  Sheehan 
received  a  letter  from  the  Bishop  bidding  him  go  to  the 
Vincentian  Monastery  at  Sunday's  Well  (Tobar-an-dom- 
hnaigh),  Cork,  where  he  was  to  make  his  retreat  preparatory 
to  being  ordained  on  April  i8th.  The  ceremony  was  to 
take  place  in  St,  Mary's  Cathedral,  Cork,  as  the  incomplete 
state  of  the  Queenstown  cathedral  ^  made  any  such  function 
there  impossible.  That  our  young  candidate  stood  well 
in  the  estimation  of  his  superiors  at  Maynooth  is  attested 
by  the  following  note  from  the  President,  Dr.  Charles 
Russell,  to  Bishop  McCarthy. 

St.  Patrick's  College,  Maynooth,  Jpril  7th,  1875. 
My  dear  Lord: 

I  have  much  pleasure  in  reporting  to  your  Lordship  that  at  the 
close  of  last  year  Mr.  Patrick  Sheehan  was,  unanimously  and  with- 
out hesitation,  recommended  by  our  council  for  the  Holy  Order  of 
Priesthood. 

We  felt  the  fullest  confidence  that  he  would  prove  a  pious  and 
exemplary  priest. 

Understanding  that  your  Lordship  proposes  to  advance  Mr. 
Sheehan  to  Order  I  am  very  happy  to  give  you  this  assurance  as 
to  our  judgment  regarding  him  while  under  our  care. 
Begging  your  Lordship's  blessing, 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Your  most  obdt.  servant. 

C.  W.  Russell. 

In  a  brief  note  of  a  later  date  we  find  a  record  of  the  ordina- 
tion: "Ordained  in  Cork,  feast  of  the  Patronage  of  St. 
Joseph,  1875."  That  day  was  the  third  Sunday  after 
Easter,  April  18th.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by 
Bishop  Delany,  the  Ordinary  of  Cork,  whose  official  at- 
testation follows: 

Hisce  praesentibus  fidem  facimus  nos,  pontificalia  exercentes, 
inter  Missarum  solemnia  die  i8vo  Aprilis  quae  Dominica  fuit, 
Rvd'o   Dm'o   Patritio   Sheehan,   Cloynensi,   a   proprio   Episcopo 

*  Begun  under  the  direction  of  the  Enghsh  architect,  Welby  A.  Pugin,  by  Bishop 
McCarthy's  predecessor,  Dr.  Keane. 


Chap.  IV]  .    PRIESTHOOD  47 

rite  dimisso,  ordinem  presbyteratus  contulisse  in  nostra  ecclesia 
pro-cathedrali. 

{sigill.)  GUILLELMUS    DeLANY 

Epus  Corcagiensis 
Datum  Corcagiae 
die  28  aprilis  1875 

Joannes  Galvin  Sec. 

There  is  no  other  account  of  the  solemn  occasion.  In  a 
diary  of  that  time  Father  Sheehan  mentions  the  fact  that 
after  the  ordination  he  returned  to  the  Vincentian  Mon- 
astery to  prepare  for  his  first  Mass.  Of  this  latter  function, 
too,  apparently  no  record  remains,  though  we  can  hardly 
imagine  that  the  event  failed  to  arouse  the  devout  enthusiasm 
of  the  Mallow  people  among  whom  the  young  cleric  had 
grown  up.  He  gives  a  description  in  Luke  Delmege  of  a 
first  Mass  in  the  little  village  of  Lislanee,  and  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  the  scene  is  reminiscent  of  his  own  happy  es- 
pousals as  a  priest.  There  is  no  reference  among  the  local 
records  to  a  celebration  in  the  parish  church.  This  and 
some  indications  preserved  in  the  Mallow  convent  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  lead  to  the  assumption  that  the  newly 
ordained  priest  said  his  first  Mass  in  their  chapel.  It  was 
the  community  in  which  his  two  sisters  had  lab<ored  and  died. 

APPOINTED   TO   THE    ENGLISH   MISSION 

Like  Luke  Delmege,  Father  Sheehan  was  destined  for 
the  English  mission.  Vocations  to  the  priesthood  were  at 
the  time  more  frequent  in  Ireland  than  were  required  for 
ministrations  to  her  faithful  people.  Other  English-speak- 
ing countries,  on  the  contrary,  felt  the  dearth  of  laborers  in 
the  vineyard  of  Christ.  Hence  it  was  that  the  Isle  of 
Saints  was  still  able,  as  of  old,  to  send  missionaries  abroad 
to  safeguard  the  faith  of  her  children  in  exile.  The  Bishop 
of  Plymouth,  Dr.  Wilham  Vaughan,  had  asked  for  pastoral 
aid  from  the  Cloyne  diocese,  and  Father  Sheehan  received 
his  appointment  to  England. 

At  first  he  was  disturbed  at  the  idea  of  being  sent  away 
from  his  native  home;    but  soon  he  found  his  new  field  of 


48  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

work  congenial.  He  had  gone  out  of  the  Seminary  with 
an  earnest  purpose  to  do  his  best.  What  that  best  was 
we  glean  from  some  verses,  a  manuscript  copy  of  which 
was  found  after  his  death  in  an  old  breviary  used  by  him. 
The  refrain  is  the  present  motto  used  at  Stonyhurst 
College.^ 

The  years  of  my  life  before  me  lie  — 

What  shall  my  record  be? 
Known  or  unknown?     God  knows,  not  I; 

Mine  to  do  —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

God,  Creator,  my  service  claims  — 

What  shall  my  service  be? 
Aim  of  my  life,  above  all  aims, 

To  work  for  Him  —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

Christ,  Redeemer,  bath  bought  me  sure. 

His  must  I  ever  be. 
My  heart's  desire,  while  life  shall  endure. 

To  render  Him  —  "^uafit  Je  Puis." 

Mary,  Mother,  thy  servant  I, 

By  self  oblation,  free, 
A  slave  indeed,  were  I  not  to  try 

To  do  for  her —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

Faith  of  our  Fathers,  living  still, 

Spite  of  block  and  gallows  tree. 
Mine  not  to  rest  at  ease  until 

I  have  wrought  for  Him  —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

Gospel  tidings  to  tribes  unknown, 

That  dwell  beyond  the  sea. 
Shall  I  not  make  their  cause  my  own? 

Mine  to  give  —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

^  This  motto,  ^uant  Je  Puis,  is  originally  that  of  the  Shireburn  family  and 
was  taken  over  by  Stonyhurst  College,  when,  in  1794,  Thomas  Weld  of  Lul- 
worth,  heir  to  the  Shireburns  of  Stonyhurst,  gave  Stonyhurst  Hall  to  the  dis- 
persed College  of  St.  Omer  (Artois),  founded  by  Robert  Persons  in  1592. 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  49 

Poor  of  Christ,  for  help  they  cry, 

Hark  to  their  piteous  plea, 
For  Christ's  dear  sake  then  shall  not  I 

Do  for  them  —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

Children  reft  of  their  birthright, 

Their  souls  in  jeopardy  — 
Who  shall  come  to  their  rescue  if  not  I? 

Mine  to  aid  —  "^uant  Je  Puis." 

God,  Christ,  Mary,  children,  poor. 

Heathen  beyond  the  sea. 
My  heart's  desire  while  life  shall  endure 

To  do  for  them  —  "  ^uant  Je  Puis." 

For  a  few  months  the  young  Irish  priest  was  kept  at  the 
cathedral,  in  Plymouth,  possibly  to  test  his  ability  and  dis- 
position for  pastoral  work  amid  conditions  quite  strange 
to  him.  No  doubt  the  old  seaport  town  reminded  him  in 
some  of  its  features  of  his  native  coast,  for  the  bold  rocky 
ridges  of  Plymouth  Hoe  stretching  out  into  the  harbor 
have  in  them  suggestions  of  the  romantic  charms  that  cHng 
to  the  shores  of  the  Sister  Island.  But  Plymouth  did  not 
permit  him  those  protracted  and  solitary  communings 
with  nature  which  he  had  enjoyed  during  his  walks  in  his 
student  days  along  the  rugged  coast  of  Clare.  He  found 
abundant  labor  for  souls,  and  frequently  of  an  unpoetic 
character,  waiting  him  on  every  side.  Fortunately  there 
were  protecting  and  guiding  influences  round  him.  The 
Bishop  was  a  man  of  wide  experience,  having  ruled  over 
his  episcopal  flock  for  upward  of  twenty  years.  Canon 
Herbert  Woollett,  the  rector  of  the  Cathedral,  was  a  kindly 
priest  of  broad  judgment  and  solid  piety;  and  altogether 
the  surroundings  proved  helpful  to  the  young  levite  from 
Ireland.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Bishop  Vaughan  used  to 
take  a  humorous  delight  at  table  in  disputing  Ireland's 
political  claims.  This  was  calculated  to  rouse  the  curate 
from  Cloyne.  The  Vicar  General  had  frequently  to  inter- 
vene in  order  to  save  the  young  Irishman's  feelings.     On 


50  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

one  occasion  the  Bishop  referred  to  certain  "Irish  atrocities," 
when  Canon  Graham,  one  of  the  clerical  members  of  the 
Bishop's  household,  good-naturedly  came  to  Father  Sheehan's 
relief  by  reading  aloud  from  the  morning  paper  a  flagrant 
case  of  British  wife-beating,  which  turned  the  conversa- 
tion to  English  atrocities. 

It  fell  to  Father  Sheehan's  lot  to  open  the  course  of  ser- 
mons at  the  Cathedral  in  honor  of  Our  Lady,  on  the  first 
Sunday  in  May.  His  theme  was  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  a  subject  according  to  his 
heart,  and  one  to  which  he  appears  to  have  done  justice. 
Indeed  the  gift  which  made  him  an  exceptionally  impressive 
preacher  in  later  years  showed  itself  very  early  in  his  priestly 
career.  At  first,  it  appears,  he  was  led  to  introduce  into 
his  preaching  a  certain  form  of  controversy,  which  he  be- 
lieved to  be  adapted  to  the  English  mind.  He  gives  us  a 
casual  glimpse  of  this  in  Luke  Delmege. 

Luke  preached  his  first  sermon  very  much  to  his  own  satis- 
faction. He  had  heard  ever  so  many  times  that  what  was  re- 
quired in  England  was  a  series  of  controversial  and  argumentative 
sermons  that  might  be  convincing  rather  than  stimulating.  Then 
one  day  he  read  in  a  Church  newspaper  that  a  certain  Anglican 
divine  had  declared  that  Calvinism  was  the  bane  and  curse  of 
the  Church  of  England.  Here  then  was  the  enemy  to  be  ex- 
orcised by  a  course  of  vigorous  lectures  on  Grace.  Here  Luke 
was  master.  •  The  subject  had  formed  part  of  the  fourth  year's 
curriculum  in  college  and  Luke  had  explored  it  to  its  deepest 
depth.  He  read  up  his  "Notes,"  drafted  fifteen  pages  of  a  dis- 
course, committed  it  to  memory,  and  delivered  it  faultlessly, 
with  just  a  delicious  flavor  of  Southern  brogue,  which  was  capti- 
vating to  the  greater  part  of  his  audience,  and  delightful  from  its 
very  quaintness  and  originality  to  the  lesser  and  more  select. 
Now  Luke  was  a  Molinist  and  he  told  his  congregation  so.  He 
demolished  Calvin  and  Knox  first,  and  when  he  had  stowed  away 
all  that  was  left  of  them,  he  told  his  wondering  and  admiring 
audience  that  the  Thomist  and  Scotist  positions  had  been  carried 
by  assault,  and  that  the  Molinist  flag  was  now  waving  above  the 
conquered  garrisons.  Many  more  things  he  told  them  as  their 
wonder  grew;    and  when  Luke  stepped  down  from  the  pulpit, 


Chap.  IV]  •  PRIESTHOOD  51 

he  felt  that  the  conversion  of  England  had  now  in  reality 
begun. 

The  opinion  of  the  congregation  varied.  That  very  large 
section  in  every  congregation  to  whom  the  delivery  of  a  sermon 
is  a  gymnastic  exercise,  which  has  no  reference  to  the  audience 
other  than  as  spectators,  considered  that  it  was  unique,  original, 
but  pedantic.  One  or  two  young  ladies  declared  that  he  had 
lovely  eyes,  and  that  when  he  got  over  the  brusquerie  of  his 
Irish  education,  he  would  be  positively  charming.  One  old  apple- 
woman  challenged  another: 

"What  was  it  all  about,  Mary?" 

"Yerra  how  could  I  know?  Shure  it  was  all  Latin.  But  I 
caught  'the  grace  of  God'  sometimes." 

"Well,  the  grace  of  God  and  a  big  loaf — shure  that's  all  we 
want  in  this  world." 

A  rough  man,  in  his  factory  dress,  asked:  — 

"Who  is  this  young  man?" 

"A  new  hand  they  have  taken  on  at  the  works  here,"  said  his 
mate. 

The  opinions  of  the  clergy  were  not  audibly  expressed.  Luke 
indeed  heard  one  young  man  hint  broadly  at  the  "windmill," 
by  which  he  understood  his  own  gestures  were  meant.  And 
another  said  something  about  a  pumphandle.  A  young  Irish 
confrere  stole  to  Luke's  room  late  that  night  and  on  being  bidden 
to  "come  in"  he  threw  his  arms  around  Luke,  thumped  him  on  the 
back,  ran  up  and  down  the  room  several  times,  and  went  through 
sundry  Celtic  gyrations,  —  then: 

"Luke,  old  man,  I'll  tell  you,  you've  knocked  them  all  into  a 
cocked  hat." 

The  Vicar  General  said  nothing  for  a  few  days;  then: 

"Delmege,  have  you  got  any  more  of  these  sermons?" 

"Yes,  sir;   I  have  the  series  in  'Notes.'" 

"Burn  them.  — Take  the  Dublin  Review  to  your  room,  volume 
by  volume,"  he  added,  "and  study  it.  You  have  got  quite  on 
the  wrong  tack."  ^ 

If  such  was  Father  Sheehan's  early  experience,  he  quickly- 
mended  his  methods,  for  we  learn  that  ,his  sermons  in  the 
Plymouth   cathedral  were   much   liked.     The   local    papers 
pointedly    mention    a    somewhat    remarkable    incident    in 
^  Luke  Delme^e,  Chap.  IX,  "The  Realms  of  Dis." 


52  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

connection  with  his  preaching.  Among  the  notables  resi- 
dent in  the  city  at  that  time  was  the  Rev.  Robert  Stephen 
Hawker,  former  Vicar  of  Morwenstow,  well  known  in  the 
world  of  letters,  the  writer  of  several  volumes  of  poems  and 
of  some  favorite  hymns  for  Anglican  church  service.^  He 
had  retired  from  his  living  owing  to  impaired  health,  and  was 
staying  for  rest  in  his  native  town  of  Plymouth.  Whether 
it  was  that  the  restorations  then  going  on  at  the  Episco- 
palian church  ^  prevented  him  from  attending  his  own  de- 
nominational service,  or  whether  some  more  positive  motive 
was  the  cause,  it  so  happened  that  the  Protestant  divine,  to- 
gether with  his  wife  and  three  daughters,  was  present  in 
the  Catholic  cathedral  one  Sunday  evening  when  the  young 
Irish  curate  preached  on  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Church." 
A  few  days  later  the  minister,  having  succumbed  to  a  severe 
attack  of  heart  disease,  called  for  the  Cathohc  priest,  and 
on  his  deathbed  made  his  profession  of  faith.  The  news- 
papers promptly  connected  the  conversion  of  the  Anglican 
clergyman  with  his  attendance  at  the  cathedral  the  pre- 
vious Sunday,  and  for  a  time  the  eloquence  of  the  young 
preacher  became  the  subject  of  comment  in  the  town. 

To  this  period  must  be  referred  also  the  first  records  of 
his  experience  in  attending  the  sick  and  dying.  The  Naval 
Hospital  was  at  Stonehouse,^  near  the  outlet  of  the  Tamar 
to  the  sea.  The  marines  at  this  institution  were  cared  for 
apparently  in  the  perfunctory  way  of  government  estab- 
lishments at  a  time  when  infirmaries,  like  the  South  Devon 
Hospital,  with  its  sanitary  accommodations  and  staflF  of 
trained  nurses,  had  not  yet  been  built. 

The  dying  man  lay  in  a  little  cot  at  the  right  hand  side  of  the 
long  empty  ward.  There  was  no  other  patient  there.  An  at- 
tendant in  brown  cloth  decorated  with  brass  buttons,  sat  on  the 
bed,  coolly  reading  a  newspaper.     The  hand  of  death  was  on  the 

^  The  author  of  the  popular  poem,  "And  shall  Trelawney  die?" 

^  St.  Andrew's,  a  fine  specimen  of  the  fifteenth-century  perpendicular  style  of 

architecture,  was  being  renovated  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott. 
^  In  Luke  Delmege,  Chap.  IX,  he  locates  the  incidents  at  a  place  called  Stoke- 

port. 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  53 

face  of  the  poor  consumptive.  His  eyes  were  glazed,  and  the  gray- 
shadow  flitted  up  and  down  at  each  convulsive  breath. 

"Is  this  the  Catholic  patient.?"  asked  Luke  anxiously. 

"Yaas,  he  be  a  Cawtholic,  I  understan',"  said  the  man. 

"He  is  dying,"  said  Luke  who  had  never  seen  death  before. 

"Dead  in  hexactly  twanty  minutes,"  said  the  man,  taking  out 
his  watch  and  measuring  the  time.  He  restored  the  watch  to  his 
pocket  and  continued  reading  the  paper. 

This  awful  indifference  smote  Luke  to  the  heart.  He  knelt 
down,  put  his  stole  around  his  neck,  tried  to  elicit  an  act  indica- 
tive of  conscious  sorrow  from  the  dying,  failed,  gave  conditional 
absolution,  administered  Extreme  Unction,  and  read  the  prayers 
for  the  dying.  The  attendant  continued  absorbed  in  his  paper. 
Then  Luke  sat  down  by  the  bedside,  watched  the  flitting  changes 
on  the  face  of  the  dying  whilst  murmuring  a  prayer.  Exactly  at 
the  twenty  minutes  specified  the  man  rose  up,  folded  his  paper, 
stretched  himself  and  looked.  A  last  spasm  flashed  across  the 
gray,  ashen  face  of  the  dying;  the  breathing  stopped,  fluttered, 
stopped  again,  came  slowly  and  with  painful  eflFort,  stopped  again, 
then  a  long,  deep  breath,  the  eyes  turned  in  their  sockets.  That 
soul  had  fled.  A  mucous  foam  instantly  gathered  on  the  blue 
lips  and  filled  the  entire  mouth. 

"Did  I  tell  'ee?  Twanty  minutes  to  the  second,"  said  the  man 
as  we  wiped  the  foam  from  the  dead  man's  lips  and  lifted  the 
coverlet,  flinging  it  lightly  over  the  face  of  the  dead  man.  ^ 

It  was  his  first  lesson,  not  only  in  meeting  the  icy  presence 
of  death  among  the  derelicts  of  a  crowded  industrial  center, 
but  of  what  at  a  later  period  Canon  Sheehan  regarded  as 
the  characteristic  trait  of  the  EngHsh  people,  their  "in- 
dividualism," a  disposition  which  one  meets  in  all  strata 
of  British  life,  and  according  to  which  each  man  goes  his 
own  way,  unheeding  and  indifferent  —  "a  solitary  in  the 
awful  desert  of  teeming  human  life." 

At  the  close  of  the  summer  vacation  Father  Sheehan 
was  appointed  curate  to  the  church  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
at  Exeter,  better  known  as  "St.  Nicholas  Priory."  The 
pastor  of  the  church  was  the  Very  Rev.  George  Hobson, 
later  Provost  of  Plymouth,   a  saintly   and  learned   priest, 

^  Ibid.  p.  113. 


54  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

who  on  account  of  poor  health  had  arranged  for  a  tempo- 
rary leave  of  absence.  After  the  young  priest  had  been 
inaugurated  in  the  details  of  his  duties  he  was  left  as  ad- 
ministrator in  sole  charge  of  the  parish. 

The   work,    though    not    arduous,   was    sufficiently   con- 
tinuous to  engage  all  his  time  and  energy.     His  solicitude 
for  the   sick,   his   assiduity   in   catechizing   and   preaching, 
and  above  all  his  care  for  the  children  of  the  school  attached 
to  the   priory,   for  which  work    he    developed    later  on   a 
singular  predilection,  are  remembered  to  this  day  by  the 
people  of  Exeter.     One  of  his  successors,  who  went  to  the 
parish  as  curate  in  191 2,  tells  us  that  "there  is  still  a  little 
group  of  old  people  who  remember  Father  Sheehan  quite 
well."     The  latter  seems  to  have  made  pretty  much  the 
same  impression  upon  all,  namely  that  he  was  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  piety;    that  he  was  wonderfully  ob- 
servant,  no   detail   being  too   small  to   escape   his   notice. 
"He  was  also  generally  recognized  to  have  been,  even  in 
these  early  days,  a  splendid  preacher,  the  chief  character- 
istics  of  his    sermons   being   directness    and    brevity.     He 
appears  to  have  had  the  happy  knack  of  seizing  upon  some 
particular   thought   of  religious   duty.     When   he   had   ex- 
hibited it  and  presented  it  clearly  to  his  audience,  he  made 
his  bow  and  retired.     They  remembered  in  particular  his 
first  sermon.     It  was  on  charity;    very  short,  hardly  five 
minutes,  it  would  seem*     Yet  close  on  forty  years   after- 
ward  its   general  outline  was   almost  verbally   reproduced 
by  an  unlettered  woman  of  eighty-eight,  who   had   heard 
him    deliver   it."     While   the    Exeter    people   remembered 
him  vividly,  he  was  equally  clear  in  his  recollections  of  them. 
A  few  months  before  his  death  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
local  priest  in  answer  to  some  inquiries  made  of  him.     The 
accuracy  of  his  recollections  was  astonishing.     "He  seemed 
to  be  able  to  give  the  very  dimensions  of  the  houses  where 
he  used  to  visit.     He  could  sketch  with  marvelous  fidelity 
to  detail  the  httle  peculiarities  and  eccentricities  of  people, 
and    forecast    the   characteristic   traits   of    individuals,    at 
that  time  mere  boys   and   girls,  who  were  now  dignified 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  55 

fathers  and  stately  matrons.  And  he  did  this  with  a 
humor  that  disarmed  all  suspicion  of  criticism."  He 
expressed  his  sense  of  deep  indebtedness  to  those  who 
obliged  him  to  spend  his  years  of  priestly  apprenticeship  in 
England.  "During  my  curacy  at  Exeter,"  he  wrote,  "I 
learned  more  theology  than  I  acquired  during  my  whole 
college  career,  and  I  gained  more  of  practical  experience 
than  I  have  had  since  then,  during  all  the  long  years  of  my 
ministry." 

He  was  happy  by  all  accounts  in  his  work,  but  the  con- 
stant strain  of  his  zealous  activity  began  gradually  to  tell 
on  his  health.  In  July  of  1876  he  found  himself  obliged 
to  take  a  brief  vacation.  He  hoped  that  a  visit  to  Lourdes 
would  bring  him  fresh  strength  at  the  feet  of  Our  Blessed 
Lady.     It  would  be  medicine  alike  for  soul  and  body. 

We  have  his  diary  of  that  time.  Although  the  journey 
occupied  little  more  than  the  two  weeks  of  the  customary 
summer  vacation  allowed  to  missionary  priests  in  England, 
it  gives  a  glimpse  of  his  habit  of  observing  men  and  things, 
and  in  some  sense  contains  the  beginnings  of  his  first  book. 
Here  are  some  of  the  details :  —  He  leaves  Exeter  on  Monday, 
July  loth.  At  Southhampton  he  takes  the  boat  and  gets 
into  conversation  with  "curious  old  gentleman  from 
Manchester,  dealer  in  hides."  The  steward  "is  very 
decent,"  and  so  forth.  Except  for  a  little  touch  of  mal 
de  mer  he  gets  to  Havre  without  incident.  There  he  tries 
his  academical  French  on  the  first  man  he  meets,  but  is 
not  very  well  understood,  and  understands  "the  patois'* 
still  less.  At  Paris  he  asks  for  the  Hotel  (TAngleterre,  but 
lands  in  the  "English  Hotel."  He  looks  for  the  Abbe 
Choliac,  to  whom  he  had,  it  appears,  an  introduction,  but 
after  sundry  failures  is  made  to  understand  that  the  Abbe 
is  en  vacances.  Then  he  takes  refuge  with  the  Passionist 
Fathers,  who  speak  English.  He  finds  the  Paris  cab 
drivers  slow,  or  else  he  is  in  too  great  a  hurry  to  get  to  the 
train  for  fear  of  missing  it.  —  Plus  vite,  plus  vite,  vous 
etes  tres  tard.  —  He  gives  the  driver  two  francs  for  having 
whipped  up  his  horse,  and  finds  that  he  has  missed  his  train 


56  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

after  all.  A  French  priest  whom  he  accosts  with  Je  suis 
un  pretre  Catholique  stranger  answers  somewhat  uncivilly: 
Et  moi,  je  suis  un  pretre  Catholique ^  and  the  Irish  curate 
looks  significantly  at  his  companion,  who  proves  to  be  an 
Enghsh  priest  *'in  mufti."  The  young  pilgrim  admires 
Pau,  which  he  thinks  is  like  Torquay.  He  is  enchanted 
with  the  beauty  of  the  Pyrenees  and  of  Lourdes.  At  the 
sight  of  the  grotto  he  exclaims:  Mere  de  Dieu,  comme  je 
vous  aime,  et  votre  Fils! 

In  Lourdes  he  meets  with  the  usual  experiences  of  the 
priest  pilgrim.  He  is  delighted  by  the  piety  of  the  people; 
but  there  are  a  few  shadows.  One  day  a  priest  serves  his 
Mass,  and  he  is  edified.  The  next  day  a  boy  serves,  and  we 
read  in  the  notes:  *'How  I  would  wring  the  young  fellow's 
ears  if  I  had  him  in  Exeter!"  He  records  what  people  eat, 
as  well  as  his  own  modest  fare.  "Returned  and  break- 
fasted on  coffee  and  omelette.  French  priest  breakfast- 
ing on  salmon  and  claret."  There  are  quite  a  number  of 
soggarths  from  Ireland,  some  of  whom  he  knows  distantly, 
but  they  are  all  older  than  he.  He  gets  into  conversation 
with  a  few  of  them,  and  they  discuss  the  defects  of  the 
Church  in  Ireland  —  the  lack  of  piety,  the  deficiencies 
of  Maynooth  education,  the  characteristics  of  some  of  the 
bishops  (Bishop  Croke  gets  a  great  eulogy),  the  need  of 
Irish  publications.  Preaching  in  Ireland  and  England  is 
compared,  with  due  reference  to  the  French  eloquence  they 
had  heard  at  the  grotto.  Someone  tells  the  story  of  a 
French  bishop  who  invariably  "promised  his  curates  a 
bottle  of  wine  if  they  succeeded  in  preaching  only  fifteen 
minutes."  Finally  they  all  discuss  sundry  bottles  of  Bor- 
deaux in  one  of  the  older  priest's  rooms. 

But  the  things  that  remained  in  Father  Sheehan's  mem- 
ory longest  were  certain  details  he  heard  about  former 
Maynooth  students,  some  of  them  his  own  classmates,  of 
whom  he  had  lost  sight  for  a  time  while  in  England.  One 
of  them  had  been  expelled  and  gone  to  America.  Another 
whom  he  had  known  long  ago  had  been  kept  back  from 
ordination  at  the  very  end  of  his  course.     He  had  been 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  57 

"first  of  first"  in  the  logic  year  and  then  he  had  done  noth- 
ing until  he  took  second  premium  in  fourth  year  divinity. 
He  was  married  now,  badly  circumstanced,  etc.  —  Such 
is  the  account  of  his  momentary  impressions  and  experi- 
ences, of  which  he  weaves  occasional  strands  into  his 
books  later  on. 

The  visit  to  Lourdes  seems  to  have  improved  his  physical 
condition.  His  mental  impressions  of  what  he  saw  and 
heard  were  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil.  He  found  much 
piety  and  a  deep  faith,  such  as  he  had  hardly  expected 
outside  Ireland.  But  then,  too,  he  met  the  old  disappoint- 
ments where  he  had  looked  for  consistency.  Thus  at  the 
bookstands  in  Lourdes  he  discovered  that,  alongside  the 
devotional  books  and  guides  which  the  pilgrims  were  ex- 
pected to  purchase,  by  far  the  largest  number  of  works  on 
sale  were  those  of  Dumas  and  Georges  Sand.  What  the 
older  priests  had  said  about  piety  in  Ireland  and  in  France 
was  not  what  he  should  have  liked  to  think.  An  American 
from  Chicago,  who  had  been  cured  at  Lourdes,  two  years 
before,  of  a  serious  disease,  and  who  had  returned  to  give 
thanks  to  Our  Blessed  Lady,  spoke  of  France  as  a  place  of 
great  iniquity.  The  American  was  a  publican  himself, 
but  he  declared  that  he  had  found  Paris  a  "hell  on  earth." 
What  Father  Sheehan  had  heard  about  some  of  his  class 
fellows  at  Maynooth  likewise  made  him  sad.  On  the  other 
hand  he  had  found  much  good.  He  felt  satisfied  that  he 
had  profited.  "Man  to  be  wise  must  study  the  vices  and 
virtues  of  which  human  nature  is  capable,  first  in  himself, 
and  then  in  all  good  faith  in  others."  He  was  sure  that  he 
had  a  right  standard  to  judge  by  and  compare  things  as  to 
their  real  value.  "The  model  of  all  human  and  Divine 
perfection  was  the  God-man  who  stood  on  Judean  soil 
1900  years  ago,  and  left  His  life  and  His  utterances  as  the 
highest  standard  to  which  the  world  could  attain.  By  that 
Life  all  mental  and  moral  perfection  must  be  judged.  It 
is  the  criterion  of  all  that  is  holy  and  sacred.  It  is  the 
touchstone  of  all  sterling  and  unalloyed  greatness." 

On  his  way  back  from  Lourdes  he  stops  at  Paris.     There 


58  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  I 

he  meets  some  friends,  says  Mass  at  the  Convent  of  the 
"Poor  Servants  of  the  Mother  of  God,"  who  have  houses 
also  in  Dubhn  and  Cork.  He  has  a  fainting  spell  while 
making  his  thanksgiving.  Afterward  he  visits  the  Senate 
chamber  where  he  sees  the  great  Mgr.  Dupanloup.  The 
principal  incident  is  his  visit  to  the  Irish  College  in  the 
Rue  des  Irlandais,  of  which  the  Vincentian  Father  Thomas 
McNamara  was  then  rector.  Father  Thomas  Murphy,  the 
administrator,  receives  him  very  kindly  and  conducts  him, 
in  company  with  Fathers  Casy  and  Power,  through  the 
college,  giving  some  interesting  accounts  of  the  old  "Lom- 
bard Foundation"  and  of  the  remarkable  men  who  had 
studied  in  the  college  during  the  past  two  centuries.  Among 
them  were  three  Bishops  of  Cloyne  —  McKenna,  Cop- 
pinger,  and  Keane.^  Father  Murphy  could  tell  him  much 
about  the  subject,  for  he  had  made  special  studies  in  the 
old  archives,  and  had  written  a  sketch  of  the  institution 
some  years  before  for  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  (1866). 
On  his  way  to  his  hotel  Father  Sheehan  buys  a  French 
book,  Le  Genie  du  Catholicismey  for  a  franc,  probably  because 
it  reminded  him  of  Chateaubriand's  work.  He  also  in- 
vests two  pounds  in  a  new  cassock.  Next  day  at  noon  he 
takes  the  train  for  Havre,  where  he  arrives  in  time  to  book 
on  the  Alice  for  Southampton.  He  reaches  dock  at  six-thirty 
in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Exeter  in  the  evening. 

The  following  autumn  and  winter  until  February  Father 
Sheehan  remained  at  the  "Priory."  It  is  not  clear  that  he 
did  any  writing  here,  but  he  appears  to  have  received  some 
impulses  in  this  direction  from  the  Canon,  while  the  latter 
was  still  residing  there,  if  not  from  the  traditions  of  the  place 
itself.  "Priest  Hobson"  was  much  respected  in  Exeter, 
not  merely  for  his  gentle  urbanity  but  also  for  his  charity 
to  the  poor  of  the  town  irrespective  of  creed  or  nationality. 
He  had  studied  at  Chfton  and  Ushaw,  had  traveled  con- 
siderably, was  a  man  of  wide  reading.  His  reputation  was 
perhaps  enhanced  also  by  the  glamor  of  learning  that  at- 

1  The  Irish  College  in  Paris  from  1578  to  1901.  By  Rev.  Patrick  Boyle,  CM., 
1901.     Document  XIV. 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  59 

tached  to  one  of  his  predecessors,  Dr.  Oliver.  The  latter 
was  a  noted  antiquarian,  who  had  been  in  charge  of  the 
parish  of  St.  Nicholas  Priory  (an  old  Jesuit  mission)  for 
forty-four  years,  had  written  a  history  of  Exeter  and  of  the 
ecclesiastical  antiquities  of  the  district  (Devon),  and  had 
estabhshed  a  name  for  sohd  scholarship.  From  him  the 
old  aristocratic  society  of  the  town,  distinguished  by  its 
quiet  air  of  prosperity,  had  learned  to  respect  the  Cathohc 
priesthood;  for  he  had  forced  upon  their  remembrance  the 
fact  that  the  glories  of  the  old  St.  Peter's  Cathedral  with  its 
wonderful  choir  screens,  misereres,  reredos,  minstrel  gallery, 
even  to  its  cinquecento  front,  were  still  asserting  their  ancient 
Roman  Catholic  proprietorship,  despite  the  present  guardian- 
ship which  the  Church  of  England  exercised  over  the  edifice. 
For  Father  Sheehan,  whose  mind  was  just  opening  to  the 
new  impressions  from  the  surroundings  in  which  he  found 
himself,  these  things  had  a  great  attraction.  His  position 
as  representing  Canon  Hobson  during  the  latter's  absence 
had  naturally  drawn  him  into  circles  that  had  a  refining 
as  well  as  an  enlightening  arid  informing  influence  on  his 
receptive  mind.  He  tells  us  in  Luke  Delmege  what  his 
estimate  of  this  influence  was: 

Here  invariably  once  a  week,  sometimes  twice  or  thrice  a  week, 
Luke  had  the  inestimable  privilege  of  meeting  a  small,  select 
coterie  of  esoterics,  representative  of  every  branch  of  literature, 
science  and  art,  and  even  divinity.  For  here  came  many  soft- 
mannered,  polite,  well-read  Anglican  clergymen,  who  stepped  over 
from  their  snug,  if  dingy,  houses  in  the  Cathedral  close,  and  brought 
with  them  an  atmosphere  of  learning  and  refinement  and  gentle 
courtesy,  which  had  a  perceptible  effect  on  the  character  and 
manner  of  this  young  Hibernian.  And  here,  mostly  on  Wednes- 
day evenings,  were  gathered  celebrities  who  slipped  down  from 
London  by  an  afternoon  train  and  went  back  at  midnight.  Luke 
began  to  learn  that  there  were  in  the  world  a  few  who  might  be 
masters  and  teachers  forever  to  a  "First  of  First,"  and  he  grew 
humble  .  .  .  and  his  quarter's  salary  was  spent  long  before  he 
had  received  It  In  buying  books,  the  very  names  of  which  he  had 
never  heard  before.  And  with  his  plastic  Irish  nature  he  had 
begun  to  fit  In  and  adapt  himself  to  these  new  environments. 


6o  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

In  this  way  the  susceptible  Irish  curate  learned  many- 
things  of  which  he  had  not  dreamed  amid  his  wildest  am- 
bitions in  college.  His  opinion  of  Englishmen,  their  worth 
and  their  character,  began  to  alter  gradually.  And  here  we 
trace  the  beginnings  of  that  remarkable  characteristic  in  his 
writings, — the  tendency  to  compare  the  two  races,  the  Irish 
and  the  English.  He  knew  that  in  his  present  position  he 
could  learn  much  by  observation,  as  one  necessarily  does 
who  travels  with  an  open  mind.  As  for  the  English  clergy, 
his  idea  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been  that  they  were 
mostly  converts;  that  whilst  they  had  a  deep  respect  for 
the  apostolic  succession,  a  detailed  knowledge  of  rubrics, 
especially  where  ecclesiastical  vestments  and  candles  were 
concerned,  they  were  deficient  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
essentials  of  religion.  As  for  himself  he  remembered 
the  important  fact  that  he  had  sat  under  O'Kane  —  the 
O'Kane  "on  the  Rubrics"  —  and  had  been  obliged  to  pore 
over  "Murray  on  the  Church,"  of  which  the  Anglican 
divines  of  course  knew  nothing;  nor  had  they  taken  draughts 
of  special  learning  from  Crolly,  "the  tub  of  theology,"  not 
to  speak  of  the  scholastic  sips  that  had  refreshed  his  class 
hours.  Here  he  was,  then,  ready  to  enlighten  others,  with 
just,  perhaps,  the  faintest  misgiving  that  he  might  be  over- 
estimating his  superiority. 

The  three  men  who  had  thus  far  directed  him  by  kindly 
advice,  given  chiefly  in  an  obiter  manner,  but  with  a  de- 
cided intonation,  such  as  had  left  its  mark  on  his  memory, 
were  all  men  of  considerable  experience  —  Canons.  One  of 
them  had  impressed  upon  him  the  necessity  of  being  "re- 
spectable" and  the  importance  of  observing  episcopal 
statutes.  We  get  a  glimpse  of  this  in  Father  Sheehan's 
description  of  the  newly  ordained  priest  who  had  called  on 
his  pastor  for  the  purpose  of  asking  leave  to  say  his  first 
Mass  under  the  paternal  roof:  "Impossible,  quite  impos- 
sible, I  assure  you,  my  —  ah  —  dear  Mr.  Delmege.  There 
is  an  episcopal  regulation  forbidding  it,  but  we  must  not 
discuss  the  subject."  Then,  on  the  young  priest's  rising 
to  go,  the  Canon  had  left  this  piece  of  advice  with  him: 


Chap.  IV  ]  PRIESTHOOD  6l 

"You  are  very  young  ...  If  you  continue  your  studies, 
as  every  young  student  should,  and  try  to  acquire  ease  and 
proper  deportment  of  manner,  and  if  your  life  is  otherwise 
—  ah,  correct  and  respectable,  you  may  in  the  course  of 
years  attain  to  the  honors  and  —  emoluments  of  the  min- 
istry. You  may  even  in  your  old  age  —  that  is,  supposing 
an  irreproachable  and  respectable  career  —  you  may  even 
attain  to  —  ah,  the  dignity  of  being  incorporated  into  the  — 
ah,  Chapter  of  your  native  diocese."  That  was  to  be  the 
goal  toward  which  he  should  aim  if  he  would  be  successful 
in  his  own  country  —  dear,  old  Ireland.  He  should  aim 
at  being  "respectable." 

But  now  he  was  in  England.  At  Plymouth  he  had  met 
another  Canon,  a  kindly  man  who  had  told  him  to  burn  his 
"notes"  if  they  caused  him  to  preach  such  sermons  as  the 
one  he  delivered  in  the  Cathedral  shortly  after  his  arrival. 
Then  he  had  acted  as  master  of  ceremonies  and,  in  helping 
the  Bishop  to  vest,  had  found  himself  deranging  the  episco- 
pal cappa  magna,  that  mysteriously  complicated  garment 
which  someone  styles  the  "most  beautiful  of  all  the  beau- 
tiful vestments  with  which  Mother  Church  adorns  her 
children."  ^  By  that  lapse  he  had  discredited  "O'Kane 
on  the  Rubrics";  and  it  left  him  with  a  feeling  of  guilt, 
but  also  of  resentment.  When,  a  few  weeks  later,  he  re- 
ceived the  order  removing  him  from  the  Cathedral  he  had 
a  suspicion  that  the  English  people,  clergy,  Bishop  and  all, 
were  "conceited  and  formal  as  well  as  individualistic."  He 
felt  that  he  had  been  disappointed  even  in  the  best  of  them. 

And  next  he  had  come  to  Exeter.  It  was  a  place  much 
less  noisy  than  Plymouth.  There  were  no  mounted  cannon 
on  ramparts,  no  ill-smelling  quarters  where  drunken  soldiers 
or  sailors  might  be  seen  carousing,  no  excited  fishwomen 
discoursing  in  the  market-place,  no  idle  boatmen  lounging 
at  the  corners.  He  missed  the  smoke  of  ship  funnel  and 
factory  which  had  darkened  the  noonday  at  the  seacoast. 
Here  all  was  quiet  and  dignified  and  lightsome.  But  under 
it  he  recognized    the  typical  smooth   Enghsh   mechanism, 

1  Luke  Delmege,  Chap.  XV,  "  Aylesburgh." 


62  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

the  same  regularity  and  relentless  pressure,  even  in  this 
sleepy  "cathedral  town"  with  its  manifold  medieval  tradi- 
tions carved  in  the  solid  stone,  for  a  perpetual  remem- 
brance. 

If  he  gained  culture,  he  learned  other  things  too.  While 
he  took  his  pace  from  the  measured  movements  round  him, 
a  sudden  jar  would  occasionally  rouse  his  sensitive  nerves 
with  an  uncomfortable  twang.  The  rhythmic  voice  of  the 
Canon  would  remind  him  that  there  was  something  amiss; 
that  time  and  order  were  different  things  in  England  and 
Ireland.  "Quick,  quick.  Father  Sheehan,  you  are  two 
minutes  late  this  morning.  These  people  won't  wait,  you 
know."  He  felt  that  his  pastor  was  right;  but  he  could 
not  help  thinking,  "God  be  with  old  Ireland,  where  the 
neighbors  meet  leisurely  for  a  seanachus  on  Sunday  morning, 
and  sit  on  the  tombstones,  and  talk  of  old  times.  And  no 
one  minds  the  priest  being  half  an  hour  late.  Nor  does  he; 
for  he  salutes  them  all  affably  as  he  passes  into  the  sacristy, 
and  they  say,  'God  bless  your  Reverence.'"  Or  again 
the  faultless  little  pastor  would  exclaim:  "Look  here, 
look  here.  Father,  now  look  at  that  corporal.  There  you 
have  not  observed  the  folds  and  it  must  all  be  made  up 
again";  or,  "Could  you  manage  to  modulate  your  voice  a 
little?     This  is  not  the  cathedral,  and  some  of  those  ladies 

are  nervous.    I  saw  Mrs.  S start  and  look  pained  while 

you  were  preaching  yesterday.  It  was  like  an  electric 
shock." 

"God  be  with  old  Ireland,"  thought  our  young  curate, 
"where  the  people's  nerves  are  all  right,  and  where  they 
measure  your  preaching  powers  by  the  volume  of  sound 
you  can  emit." 

There  were  similar  encounters  in  the  field  of  theology, 
not  merely  pastoral  but  higher  dogma,  from  which  the 
youthful  Irish  champion  came  forth  chastened  and  humbled; 
and  more  so  when,  quite  accidentally,  he  discovered  that 
the  gentle  Canon,  his  pastor,  was  "actually  the  author  of 
certain  remarkable  philosophical  papers  in  the  Dublin 
Review  J  and  that  his  opinions"  (which  Luke  had  tried  to 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  63 

controvert  on  the  authority  of  his  "notes")  "were  quoted 
in  the  leading  Continental  Reviews." 

Thus,  whilst  he  found  himself  gradually  modifying  his 
opinions  of  things,  did  he  compare  the  impressions  which  he 
received.  He  endeavored  to  select  what  was  best  for  his 
own  mental  and  moral  improvement.  He  knew  that 
everywhere  God's  children  were  working  out  the  eternal 
destinies  with  the  inherited  instruments  at  their  disposal. 
He  began  to  realize  that  men  were  much  like  the  plant 
creation  round  them.  There  were  great  differences  of 
temper,  based  on  climate,  on  local  surroundings,  and  on 
the  opportunities  that  each  one  received  in  the  matter  of 
light  and  culture.  In  some  parts  the  sun  of  faith  and  educa- 
tion had  been  shining  steadily  for  a  long  while,  whereas 
in  other  parts  it  hardly  penetrated  the  eternal  shadows. 
Yet,  as  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  so  in  the  social  world, 
all  these  varieties  not  only  were  of  God's  ordering,  but  they 
actually  contributed  to  the  improvement  of  each  other  and 
of  the  whole.  All  this  Father  Sheehan  was  beginning  to 
see,  and  he  labored  hard  to  assimilate  what  he  found  ex- 
cellent in  his  present  surroundings. 

Whatever  his  riper  judgments  did  for  him  in  subsequent 
years,  he  never  ceased  to  regard  his  connection  with  the 
English  mission  as  the  most  fruitful,  if  not  the  happiest, 
period  of  his  life  as  a  priest.  He  learned  and  unlearned 
many  things,  and  the  lessons  remained  indelibly  fixed  in  his 
soul.  Thus  he  demonstrated  in  his  own  career  what  he 
held  to  be  a  truism,  namely  that  "it  is  only  in  middle  life 
we  begin  to  take  a  just  view  of  human  things." 

Meanwhile  the  knowledge  which  he  acquired  gave  him 
a  sense  of  safety  and  a  steady  reliance  on  fundamental 
principles.  There  are,  as  he  expresses  it,  "two  certainties 
in  the  midst  of  the  mysteries  and  doubts  that  beset  our 
lives.  One  is  the  certainty  of  faith,  that  is,  the  teaching  of 
a  divinely  appointed  Church.  The  other  is  the  certainty  of 
action,  that  is,  the  duty  nearest  to  hand.  All  speculations, 
doubts,  surmises,  and  perplexities  are  solved  by  action  — 
the  performance  of  the  duty  that  calls  us  for  the  moment." 


64  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

For  the  rest,  he  was  still,  in  some  respects  at  least,  an  un- 
practical ideahst.  Thus  he  thought,  as  he  said,  that  "the 
unnatural  delay  in  the  conversion  of  England  was  primarily 
due  to  certain  narrow,  conservative,  and  petty  views  which 
will  never  allow  the  appeal,  successfully,  to  the  broad 
human  spirit  of  the  age."  He  believed  in  the  Zeitgeist, 
which  he  mistook  for  progress. 

All  in  all  he  was  quite  happy  because  he  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  work.  He  remembered  what  he  had  put  down 
in  his  notes  at  Maynooth,  not  from  the  professor  of  theology 
but  from  Carlyle's  Past  and  Present,  that  "all  work,  even 
cotton  spinning,  is  noble.  Labor  is  life:  from  the  inmost 
heart  of  the  worker  rises  his  God-given  force,  the  sacred, 
celestial  life-essence,  breathed  into  him  by  Almighty  God; 
from  his  inmost  heart  he  awakens  to  all  nobleness,  to  all 
knowledge,  self-knowledge  and  much  else,  so  soon  as  work 
fitly  begins."  "Properly  thou  hast  no  other  knowledge 
but  what  thou  hast  got  by  working."  And  again,  "Hast 
thou  valued  patience,  courage,  perseverance,  openness  to 
light,  readiness  to  own  thyself  mistaken,  to  do  better  next 
time?  All  these,  all  virtues,  in  wrestling  with  the  dim 
brute  powers  of  fact,  in  ordering  of  thy  fellows  in  such 
wrestle,  there,  and  elsewhere  not  at  all,  thou  wilt  continually 
learn." 

This  philosophy,  for  the  time  being,  satisfied  his  aspira- 
tions. In  his  present  surroundings  he  had  everything  that 
his  intellect  and  taste  could  require.  "He  had  leisure  for 
thought  in  the  intervals  of  almost  unremitting  work;  or 
rather  this  ceaseless  work  supplied  material  for  thought, 
which  again  interacted  and  created  its  own  outcome  in 
ceaseless  work." 

To  understand  how  continually  the  Catholic  clergyman's 
time  was  occupied  in  the  little  mission  of  Exeter,  it  is  well 
to  recall  that  Canon  Hobson,  and  probably  his  predeces- 
sors, had  found  it  prudent,  if  not  absolutely  necessary,  to 
associate  themselves  with  the  various  philanthropic  and 
civic  enterprises  of  the  Exeter  community.  These  were  in 
the  hands  of  numerous  associations.     There  was  a  society 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  65 

for  the  rescue  of  discharged  prisoners,  a  society  for  the 
supression  of  pubHc  vice,  a  society  for  the  housing  of  the 
poor,  a  society  for  the  purification  of  the  stage.  Besides 
these,  there  were  the  confraternities  of  the  parish,  the 
Conference  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  hterary  societies,  hbrary 
committees,  and  so  forth,  in  all  of  which  organizations  the 
priest  was  supposed  to  be  interested  for  the  benefit  and  in- 
struction of  his  flock,  as  well  as  for  the  opportunities  they 
gave  him  to  defend  and  explain  the  Catholic  faith  to  out- 
siders. Now  in  the  absence,  for  a  considerable  time,  of  the 
regular  pastor,  these  duties,  or  some  of  them  at  least,  de- 
volved upon  the  curate  as  the  only  representative  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  in  the  place.  Indeed  Canon  Hobson  was 
anxious  that  it  should  be  so.  He  felt  it  to  be  a  serious 
duty,  though  he  might  make  it  the  subject  of  mild  jest, 
as  did  Luke's  old  rector  when  he  said:  "I  don't  see  your 
name,  Father  Delmege,  on  the  committee  for  making 
statesmen  truthful  and  introducing  the  Seventh  Command- 
ment on  the  stock  exchange."  There  was  plenty  then  to 
keep  him  busy  during  the  hours  available  for  work. 

In  the  intervals  Father  Sheehan  worked  at  his  sermons 
and  addresses.  It  was  important  that  he  should  not  dis- 
appoint the  Vicar,  nor  the  people  who  were  looking  to  him 
for  enlightenment  and  guidance.  Though  he  took  regular 
outings  into  the  country,  in  order  to  preserve  his  health, 
which,  he  had  been  warned  by  repeated  collapses,  was  not 
very  robust,  he  generally  remained  at  his  desk  some  hours 
in  the  forenoon.  He  carefully  prepared,  by  writing  and 
committing  faithfully  to  memory,  what  he  had  to  say  in 
public.  On  this  practice  he  comments  in  Luke  Delmege: 
"In  after  years  he  wondered  at  himself,  but  admitted  that 
he  dared  not  do  otherwise.  He  never  knew  who  might  be 
listening  to  him  in  this  strange  land  where  every  one  is  so 
interested  in  rehgion  because  every  man  is  his  own  pope; 
and  so  uninterested,  because  he  cares  so  little  what  all  the 
other  popes,  even  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  may  hold 
or  teach."  ^    At  any  rate  the  discipline  was  good  for  him. 

*  Loc.  ciU 


66  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

It  gave  him  that  facihty  in  expression  which  became  one  of 
the  most  striking  of  his  acquirements. 

The  net  result  of  his  activity  was  that  a  great  number 
of  persons  habitually  came  to  him  for  information  on  re- 
ligious subjects.  He  instructed  many  who  professed  to 
become  converts  —  not  a  few  of  them  were  received  into 
the  Church;  but  he  admits  that  of  his  early  converts  only 
half  the  number  remained  faithful  to  their  pledges  as 
Catholics. 

He  also  got  into  some  controversies.  On  one  occasion 
the  editor  of  a  local  paper  failed  to  print  the  young  curate's 
elaborate  protest  against  a  pubhc  insult  offered  to  **the 
Romish  clergy"  by  a  Protestant  minister.  When  he  found 
that  his  eloquent  refutations  from  the  Fathers  and  great 
theologians  had  gone  into  the  editorial  waste  paper  basket 
he  was  naturally  indignant.  "Fair  play!"  he  makes  Luke 
say,  "British  fair  play!  Pshaw,  they  are  the  greatest  hum- 
bugs and  hypocrites  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Here  is  an 
open  attack,  uncalled  for,  without  pretense  of  reason  or 
exciting  cause.  Here  is  a  reply  fair,  temperate,  judicious, 
and  lo,  it  is  suppressed!  It  is  the  old  story;  they  talk  of 
truth  when  they  he.  They  talk  of  religion  when  they 
blaspheme.  They  talk  of  humanity  when  they  rob  and 
plunder  and  kill."  ^ 

Sometimes  in  the  midst  of  his  zealous  tirades  he  discovered 
that  his  rector  took  a  different  view  of  such  matters,  and 
he  was  gradually  forced  to  realize  that  the  old  man,  with 
his  keen  insight  into  human  nature,  his  large-minded  tol- 
erance, his  deep  and  devout  faith,  was  right,  and  he  with 
his  Irish  impetuosity  was  wrong.  In  truth  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  character  and  temperament  were  a  constant  enigma 
to  him.  At  one  time  it  seemed  to  him  that  Englishmen, 
with  their  intellectual,  moral,  and  social  advantages,  should 
be  easily  gathered  into  the  fold  of  the  true  Church.  They 
were  quiet,  straightforward,  dignified;  not  at  once  emo- 
tional and  apathetic,  like  his  own  countrymen.     Ireland  of 

^  Luke  Delmege,  Chap.  XIII,  "Racial  Characteristics."  See  also  Chap.  XX, 
"Eclectic  Catholicism,"  p.  255. 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  (^-j 

course  had  inherited  the  Faith,  though  her  children,  he 
thought,  kept  it  without  improving  their  opportunities; 
or  perhaps  they  had  no  opportunities  and  were  satisfied  to 
let  things  go  on  in  the  old  groove.  But  England,  with  its 
vitality,  with  its  energies  forever  reaching  out  for  and  ap- 
pealing in  behalf  of  the  higher  things;  with  its  genius  for 
organizing,  its  benevolent  supervision,  its  liberal  philan- 
thropy, its  missionary  associations,  its  systems  of  legisla- 
tion radiating  into  every  avenue  of  the  commonwealth 
without  trespassing  on  the  liberty  of  the  individual;  —  how 
was  it  that  the  claims  of  the  Catholic  Church,  so  absolutely 
irrefragable  and  invincible,  could  escape  the  thoughtful 
consideration  of  such  a  people  and  fail  to  attract  them  power- 
fully ?  It  must  be  that  something  is  wrong  with  the  Catholic 
method. 

At  other  times  the  pendulum  would  swing  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  He  would  read  in  the  morning  paper  a 
statement  from  a  well-known  London  divine  scoring  the  as- 
sumptions of  the  "Italian  mission,"  its  insolence  in  attempt- 
ing to  obtain  a  foothold  in  England  in  order  to  corrupt  the 
truth,  "which  the  Church  of  England  had  kept  uncontami- 
nated  by  superstition  from  the  days  of  Augustine  until 
now."  The  consistency  and  comprehensiveness  of  the 
Anglican  Church  were  set  forth,  showing  how,  "despite 
papal  abuses  and  Romish  incursions,"  it  had  retained  "its 
beautiful  ritual  in  apostolic  simplicity."  Charges  of  this 
kind  would  stir  the  blood  of  the  young  Irish  curate.  Throw- 
ing down  the  paper,  he  would  exclaim:  "My  God,  what 
liars  these  Britishers  are!  They  are  the  greatest  hypocrites 
in  the  world.  They  are  too  contemptuous  to  stoop  to  lie 
in  private  life.  They  care  too  little  about  you  to  con- 
descend to  lie.  But  in  politics,  commerce,  religion  —  when- 
ever a  point  has  to  be  gained,  they  will  lie  like  Satan." 
The  next  day  he  would  come  across  some  example  of  heroic 
abnegation  and  sacrifice  where  he  least  expected  it  in  a 
recent  English  convert;  it  would  reverse  all  his  former 
judgments  about  the  EngHsh.  The  whole  matter  was 
puzzling  to  a  man  who  looked  for  consistency,  surely.    As 


68  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

he  was  an  eager  reader  he  became  gradually  familiar  with 
new  sources  of  information.  Some  of  these  in  Catholic 
literature,  of  a  distinctly  apologetic  nature,  he  mastered  very 
carefully.  His  admiration  for  Mill  and  Heine  and  Emerson 
gave  way  in  time  to  an  appreciation  of  writers  less  pre- 
tentious perhaps  but  more  solidly  intellectual.  And  this, 
too,  it  would  appear,  he  owed  to  the  discreet  and  disciphn- 
ing  guidance  of  the  old  Canon.  "'That  is  a  valuable  and 
interesting  book,'  the  latter  would  say,  pushing  over  a 
volume  by  some  great  Catholic  author,  to  Luke;  for  he 
was  a  member  of  St.  Anselm's  Society,  and  this  was  one  of 
the  societies  of  which  Luke  was  not  a  member.  'Take  it  to 
your  room  and  read  it  at  your  leisure.'"  The  curate  did 
not  always,  perhaps,  promptly  respond  to  these  over- 
tures to  keep  him  on  the  right  track.  He  had  the  notion 
that  "all  the  poetry  of  the  world  is  in  the  Catholic  Church; 
and  all  the  literature  of  the  world  outside  of  it."  He  would 
say,  meaning  the  remark  to  be  pregnant  and  suggestive, 
that  he  thought  "the  whole  of  our  philosophy  consists  of 
junks  of  indigestible  propositions,  garnished  with  syllo- 
gisms of  froth."  These  were  momentary  convictions  which 
he  disowned  when  in  time  he  began  to  realize  that,  while 
books  had  been  his  professors  for  years,  men  were  becoming 
his  teachers  now. 

Another  thing  Father  Sheehan  learned  at  Exeter  was  to 
look  personally  to  the  honor  of  the  Divine  Tabernacle. 
Learned  and  cultured  as  was  his  parish  priest,  he  did  not 
disdain  to  attend  to  the  little  things  that  concerned  the 
sanctuary.  "  Come,"  the  older  priest  would  say  on  a  Sunday 
afternoon,  "spare  me  a  half  hour  and  help  me  at  the  altar." 
He  took  a  special  pride  in  decorating  the  altar  for  Bene- 
diction on  Sunday  evenings  and  on  other  festive  occasions. 
It  was  a  labor  of  love.  His  assistant  would  often  wonder. 
"I  fear  the  wonder  was  sHghtly  contemptuous.  To  see 
this  excellent  old  man,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  Dublin  Re- 
viewer, correspondent  with  French  and  Italian  philoso- 
phers, studiously  arranging  candles  and  flowers,  was  a 
something  far  beyond  Luke's  comprehension."     It  is  pos- 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  69 

sible  that  in  after  years  when  larger  experiences  had  opened 
his  eyes  widely,  he  "dropped  some  bitter  tears  over  the 
recollections  of  his  manner  at  times  toward  the  venerable 
pastor,  when  in  reply  to  some  invitation  to  help,  the 
younger  man  had  said:  'Impossible,  sir,  I  really  have  some- 
thing serious  to  do.  Can't  you  let  the  ladies  or  the  sacristan 
attend  to  these  things?'" 

Of  course  he  did  not  neglect  his  own  countrymen,  and  the 
poor  in  particular.  There  was,  as  there  is  still,  a  colony  of 
Irish  and  Italian  exiles  in  Exeter.  Their  disposition,  so 
very  different  from  the  Englishman's,  whose  habits  of  thrift 
and  cleanliness  stand  in  marked  contrast  with  the  easy- 
going ways  of  the  immigrants,  sometimes  caused  friction, 
which  Father  Sheehan  was  called  on  to  temper.  To  him 
the  difference  between  the  quiet,  seemingly  indifferent,  and 
apathetic  manner  of  the  Britisher,  and  the  picturesque  and 
enthusiastic  fervor  of  the  Irish  and  of  the  Southern  races, 
was  a  study.  He  sums  up  their  controversies  in  a  graphic 
manner  thus:    To  his  inquiry:  — 

"Who  lives  here?" 

"A  family  of  Hirish  peddlers,  sa,  and  a  family  of  Hitalian 
horgan  grinders.     They  are  very  huntidy,  sa,  in  their  'abits." 

"Thim  English,  yer  reverence,  they're  haythens.  They  don't 
go  to  church,  mass,  or  meeting.  They  think  of  nothing  but 
what  they  eat  and  drink."  ^ 

He  had  some  experiences,  too,  of  which  he  makes  record, 
in  the  local  institutions,  with  the  convicts  in  Dartmoor 
prison  and  the  inmates  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum;  likewise  in 
some  little  out  missions  to  which  he  was  called  from  time  to 
time  as  the  needs  of  the  neighborhood  prompted. 

The  following  episode,  taken  from  the  Graves  at  Kilmorna^ 
is  literally  true  and  serves  as  an  illustration  of  the  kind  of 
work  which  Father  Sheehan  did  in  the  convict  Prison  at 
Dartmoor. 

In  the  summer  of  1876  a  young  Irish  priest,  lent  to  the  Diocese 
of  Plymouth,  and  just  then  officiating  at  Exeter,  was  ordered  to 

^  Luke  Delmege,  Chap.  XXI,  "The  Submerged  Tenth." 


70  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

proceed  to  Dartmoor  and  take  up  the  Sunday  duty  of  the  prison 
chaplain  "who  was  absent  on  leave."  There  was  to  be  a  service 
in  the  morning  and  another  in  the  evening. 

Father  Sheehan  describes  his  arrival  at  the  place  after 
a  drive  in  the  governor's  trap  from  the  Tavistock  station. 
His  servant  at  tea  was  a  convict  serving  his  last  term. 
There  was  but  little  conversation,  and  that  of  a  rather 
gruesome  kind.  Then  the  priest  retired,  though  not  before 
having  written  out  the  headings  of  the  morning's  discourse. 

The  next  morning  he  was  conducted  to  the  Lodge,  got  a  heavy 
bunch  of  keys  from  the  porter,  with  strict  injunctions  that  on  no 
account  was  he  to  part  with  them  even  for  a  moment,  shown  how 
to  lock  and  unlock  the  heavy  iron  gates  by  shooting  the  bolt 
twice  each  way,  and  again  warned  that  the  keys  were  not  for  a 
moment  to  leave  his  possession. 

The  chapel  bell  was  pealing  out  its  dismal  notes,  as  he  crossed 
two  large  yards  and  entered  the  prison  precincts.  Two  convicts 
were  just  entering  the  chapel.  They  were  his  acolytes.  The 
prisoners  filed  in  .  .  .  Then  there  was  a  pause,  and  the  priest, 
feeling  the  heavy  keys  galling  his  leg,  took  them  out  and  placed 
them  on  the  table.  He  was  instantly  tapped  on  the  shoulder 
by  the  warder  who  stood  by.  "You  must  not  leave  them  off  your 
person,  sir,  even  for  a  moment."  The  priest  shivered,  and  just 
then  the  heavy  clank,  clank  of  chains  was  heard;  and  at  a  quick 
pace  twenty  or  more  convicts,  dressed  in  hideous  yellow,  were 
marched  in.  Each  of  these  was  fettered  by  long  rods,  ankle  to 
wrist.^ 

Whilst  the  priest,  robed  in  his  vestments,  was  watching 
the  line  of  prisoners  as  they  filed  past  him,  his  attention 
was  arrested  by  one,  with  a  strong,  albeit  saddened,  face, 
who  was  a  cripple,  lacking  his  right  arm.  Suddenly  Father 
Sheehan  recognized  him.  It  was  Michael  Davitt,  the 
political  convict,  whose  history  even  at  that  period  had 
thrilled  every  loyal  Irishman's  heart  with  pride  in  the  young 
patriot's  courage.  For  this  was  he  who,  when  his  people 
had  been  evicted  from  their  home,  had  as  a  lad  of  ten  sought 

1  The  Graves  at  Kilmorna,  Chap.  XXVII,  p.  i86. 


Chap.  IV]  PRIESTHOOD  71 

to  earn  the  daily  bread  for  the  family,  and  in  the  effort  had 
lost  his  arm.  Later  on,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  had 
joined  the  Fenians.  Within  a  few  weeks  he  was  tried,  found 
guilty  of  felony,  and  condemned  to  penal  servitude  for 
fifteen  years.  Father  Sheehan  felt  his  sympathy  go  out 
to  the  youthful  hero;  but  was  told  that  he  would  not  be 
permitted  to  speak  to  him  alone.  The  prisoners  might  go 
to  confession  to  their  regular  chaplain;  but  that  would  be 
at  Easter,  The  Mass  began,  and  what  Father  Sheehan 
saw  before  him  froze  him,  as  he  says,  with  terror. 

The  prisoners  occupied  long  forms,  and  at  the  end  of  every 
two  of  these,  seated  on  a  raised  stool,  back  to  the  altar  and  facing 
the  prisoners,  was  a  warder,  his  right  hand  on  his  right  knee, 
holding  a  revolver.  It  was  horrible  in  God's  own  house  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

He  got  through  the  Mass  as  well  as  he  could,  preached 
his  little  homily^  from  the  pulpit  of  Portland  stone  —  which 
had  been  made  by  the  Fenian  prisoners  —  and  escaped  to 
the  sacristy,  carrying  with  him  the  doleful  image  of  that 
scene,  and  yet  "with  such  music  ringing  in  his  ears  as 
he  had  never  heard  before."  A  letter  from  the  prisoner 
explains  this  reference  to  the  music. 

Sunday  morning  is  verily  a  Sabbath  to  me.  The  Mass  with 
all  its  tender  associations,  the  sermon  .  .  .  but  above  all  the 
music  send  me  on  the  wings  of  imagination  half  way  towards 
heaven  ...  at  Benediction  all  the  prisoners,  myself  among  the 
number,  join  in  singing  the  "O  Salutaris"  and  the  Litany.  There 
I  invariably  break  down.  To  hear  three  hundred  of  us  poor 
devils  appealing  to  the  "Morning  Star,  the  Health  of  the  weak, 
the  Refuge  of  Sinners,"  is  heartbreaking.  And  it  is  nearly  always 
the  old  litany  we  used  to  sing  at  home  when  during  the  May 
evenings  the  candles  were  lighted  before  Our  Lady's  statue  .  .  . 
I  have  applied  to  be  allowed  to  serve  Mass,  as  I  did  of  old  at  home; 
but  as  yet  I  have  not  had  my  request. 

1  The  sermon  which  Father  Sheehan  preached  on  this  his  first  visit  to  the  prison 
was  on  the  Last  Judgment.  It  was  written  out  in  full,  as  appears  from  MS.  left 
by  him  and  marked  "preached  in  the  Prison  at  Dartmoor,  1876." 


72  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

But  the  time  came  when  Father  Sheehan  was  to  return 
to  his  native  land,  though  the  bonds  he  had  forged  in  his 
new  field  of  labor  were  growing  stronger  from  day  to  day. 
Perhaps  it  was  altogether  providential  that  he  did  not  re- 
main longer  in  England,  for  the  transformation  might  have 
eliminated  from  his  conscious  sympathies  that  ardor  for  the 
welfare  of  his  own  people  which  was  to  become  a  passion 
with  him  not  many  years  later. 


BACK    IN    IRELAND 

1877-1881 

FATHER  SHEEHAN  had  acquitted  himself  with 
credit  of  his  duties  as  administrator  of  the  Exeter 
parish.  He  was  liked  by  the  people,  especially 
by  the  poor  and  the  children.  The  non-Catholic  element 
recognized  his  ability  and  his  aesthetic  sense  in  public 
matters  whereby  he  approved  the  better  and  higher  things. 
Those  who  had  heard  him  preach  were  attracted  by  the 
evident  sincerity  of  his  pointed  and  withal  polished  elo- 
quence. People  of  a  religious  turn  commended  his  conduct, 
for  they  saw  he  was  a  priest  who  regulated  his  Hfe  not  merely 
according  to  the  obHgations  imposed  by  conventional  rule, 
but  by  the  more  exalted  standard  of  the  evangelical  counsels. 
If  there  were  any  who  were  fastidious  or  intolerant  of  his 
Celtic  ways,  their  censure  remained  unheeded  amid  the 
common  verdict  that  the  young  priest  had  at  all  times 
shown  his  readiness  to  cooperate  with  the  best  element  in 
the  city  for  the  moral  and  civic  betterment  of  the 
community. 

His  Bishop,  however,  had  need  of  him  at  home.  That 
Father  Sheehan  was  pleased  at  the  thought  of  getting  back 
to  Ireland  would  appear  from  a  note  addressed  to  Father 
Edmund  Morton,  who  had  given  him  the  unofficial  news 
of  his  appointment  as  curate  in  his  native  town,  Mallow. 

Catholic  Church,  Exeter. 
Tuesday. 

My  dear  Fr.  Morton, 

Your  letter  of  yesterday  was  a  surprise  and  a  pleasure  to 
me.  It  seems  too  good  to  be  true.  I  am  thinking  of  going  over  on 
Friday  or  Saturday,  but  I  have  not  yet  heard  from  the  Bishop  .  .  . 

73 


74  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

The  new  priest  comes  here  to-day,  and  I  leave  on  Thursday  after 
inducting  him.  What  a  lot  of  things  I  have  to  say.  Goodbye 
till  we  meet. 

Patrick  A.  Sheehan. 

Thus  far  he  had  left  himself  unreservedly  in  the  hands 
of  his  superior,  who  was  sure  to  have  at  heart  the  welfare 
of  his  ward.  But  now  there  arose  some  misgivings  as  to 
his  future.  The  thought  that  he  would  be  able  to  make 
use  of  the  experiences  acquired  on  the  English  mission,  for 
the  benefit  of  his  own  people  in  Ireland,  no  doubt  appealed 
to  his  zeal.  On  the  other  hand,  his  going  back  to  Ireland 
seemed  like  beginning  the  work  of  self-improvement  and 
adjustment  all  over  again.  A  curacy  in  the  country  offered 
but  little  room  for  the  display  of  talent  or  for  originality 
and  organization.  He  would  simply  have  to  do  as  others 
had  done  before  him,  or  as  his  pastor  bade  him.  The 
situation  recalls  a  passage  in  one  of  his  novels.^ 

"Why,  man,"  said  the  young  priest,  "if  I  were  to  return  now 
I  should  have  to  commence  all  over  again." 

"How  is  that?" 

"You  see  everything  in  Ireland  is  fixed  in  a  cast-iron  mould. 
They  don't  understand  change  which  is  progress.  Everything 
is  judged  by  age.  You  buy  a  bottle  of  wine  —  the  first  question 
is:  How  old  is  it?  You  buy  a  horse:  How  old?  Everything  is 
old  and  feeble  and  decrepit;  and  no  matter  how  distinguished  a 
man  may  be  in  England  or  America,  you  sink  down  to  a  cipher 
the  moment  you  touch  the  Irish  shore;  and  a  Newman  or  a 
Lacordaire  takes  his  place  at  the  end  of  the  queue.  No  one 
asks:  What  can  you  do?  or  What  have  you  done?  But,  How  old 
are  you?  How  long  have  you  been  on  the  mission?  Result: 
After  a  few  spasmodic  efforts,  which  become  convulsive,  you  sink 
into  a  lethargy,  from  which  there  is  no  awakening.  You  become 
aged,  not  by  years,  but  by  despair." 

Such  would  seemingly  be  the  condition  awaiting  him  at 
home,  whereas  in  England  there  was  a  better  prospect  for 
him.     One  of  his  ideal  pictures  was  that  of  a  chaplain's 

1  Luke  Delmege,  Chap.  XXII,  "  Euthanasia." 


Chap.  V]  BACK  IN  IRELAND  75 

quarters  in  an  English  mansion  at  a  seaside  town,  with 
"books  and  pen  and  paper,  crowds  of  converts,  a  quarterly- 
article  in  the  Dublin  Review,  select  society,  an  occasional 
run  to  the  city  or  to  Exeter  to  preach  a  great  sermon,  cor- 
respondence with  the  world's  hterati;  then  ecclesiastical 
honors,  and  beautiful  dignified  old  age."  That  was  not 
to  be,  however.  He  was  to  go  back  to  the  Irish  mission 
and  work  among  his  own  people. 

In  due  time  he  arrived  in  Dublin.  Father  Burton,  an 
old  classmate  of  his,  and  at  this  time  assigned  to  Fermoy, 
writes:  "I  have  a  distinct  recollection  of  our  meeting  at 
Fitzpatrick's  Hotel,  where  we  both  put  up  for  a  time.  Be- 
fore returning  to  Mallow  we  arranged  to  visit  friends  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Kanturk,  and  thither  we  drove  on 
an  outside  car  the  following  day  —  prorsus  jucunde  diem 
protraximus  illam."  Another  encounter  with  one  of  his 
countrymen  immediately  upon  his  arrival  is  inimitably  de- 
scribed by  Father  Sheehan  in  a  sort  of  parody  under  the 
title  of  "Altruism."  On  repairing,  hungry  and  tired,  to 
the  lavatory  of  the  hotel,  he  is  accosted  by  a  lodger  who  is 
making  his  ablutions  somewhat  demonstratively.  To  catch 
the  full  humor  of  the  situation  it  must  be  remembered  that 
Father  Sheehan  had,  during  his  sojourn  abroad,  adopted 
the  current  pronunciation  of  English,  discarding  the  rich 
brogue  of  his  mother  tongue,  so  welcome  to  the  Irish  ear. 
This  un-Irish  mode  of  speech  he  consistently  retained 
through  the  remainder  of  his  life.  The  Irishman  addresses 
our  young  priest  from  England: 

"Nice  day,  sir?" 

"Yes,  rather  cold  for  October." 

"Oh,  I  perceive  you  are  from  across  the  Channel.  I  have  the 
greatest  esteem  for  the  English  character,  sir.  I  always  say  we 
have  a  great  deal  to  learn  from  our  neighbors.  Coming  to  see 
Ireland,  sir?  You  will  be  delighted  and  disappointed.  Going 
south  to  Killarney  of  course?" 

"Yes,  I  am  going  south,"  said  Luke,  on  whom  the  familiarity 
grated.     'T  am  an  Irish  priest." 

"Oh.     I  beg  your  reverence's  pardon,"  said  the  other,  dropping 


'jd  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

at  once  into  the  familiar  brogue.  "Begor,  now,  we  don't  know 
our  priests  from  the  parsons.     They  dress  all  alike." 

"An  Irishman  always  distinguishes,"  said  Luke. 

"To  be  sure.  To  be  sure. — Now  whenever  I'm  in  England, 
I  always  go  to  Sandringham.  I  have  a  standing  invitation  from 
the  Prince  of  Wales  to  stay  with  him  whenever  I  am  in  England. 
'Wire  me,  Fitzgerald,'  he  says,  'and  I  shall  have  my  carriage 
waiting  for  you.  No  ceremony.  One  good  turn  deserves  another.' 
—  Are  you  lunching  here,  your  reverence?  As  good  as  you  can 
get  in  the  city.  But  ask  for  the  undercut  of  the  sirloin.  Say 
Fitzgerald  recommended  it." 

Later  on  we  have  the  following  scene  in  the  dining  room. 

"What  can  I  have  for  luncheon?"  he  asked  the  waiter. 

The  waiter  jerked  the  napkin  over  his  left  shoulder,  placed  his 
two  hands  on  the  table  and  asked  confidentially:  — 

"Well  now,  and  what  would  your  reverence  like?  I  suppose 
ye' re  travelling  for  the  good  of  yer  health  and  ye  want  somethin' 
good?" 

"Quite  so.  Then  let  me  have  a  cut  of  roast  beef —  the  under- 
cut, you  know." 

"Begor,  we're  just  out  o'  that.  There  was  a  party  of  gintle- 
min  come  in  a  few  minits  ago;  and  divil  a  bit  but  the  bone  they 
left." 

"Well,  let  me  see.     Have  you  roast  mutton  or  a  fowl?" 

"Bedad  we  had  yesterday.  But  this  .is  the  day  for  the  roast 
beef." 

"I  see.  Well  look  here.  I  am  in  a  hurry  to  catch  a  train. 
Let  me  have  a  chop." 

"The  very  thing.  While  ye'd  be  saying  thrapsticks.  Wan  or 
two?" 

"Two.     And  some  vegetables.'* 

"And  what  will  ye  dhrink?" 

"Water." 

The  waiter  straightened  himself,  rubbed  his  chin,  and  stared  at 
Luke  meditatively.     Then  he  went  to  the  kitchen. 

When  the  rest  of  the  course  had  been  served  Luke  handed  him 
a  sovereign. 

He  almost  fainted.  When  he  had  recovered  he  went  over  to 
the  window,  Luke  calmly  watching  him,  and  held  the  sovereign 
up  to  the  light.     Then  he  glanced  at  Luke  suspiciously.     A  second 


Chap.  V]  BACK  IN  IRELAND  77 

time  he  examined  the  coin,  and  rang  it  on  the  table.  Then  he 
bit  it  and  rang  it  again.     Finally  he  vanished  into  the  kitchen. 

"You  seemed  to  have  doubts  about  the  sovereign  .f"'  said  Luke 
when  he  emerged  with  the  change. 

"Is  it  me,  yer  reverence?  Divil  a  doubt!  Doubt  a  priest 
indeed!  No,  yer  reverence,  I  am  a  poor  man,  but  I  knows  me 
religion." 

"Then  why  did  you  ring  it,  and  bite  it,  and  examine  it?" 

"Is  it  me,  yer  reverence?  Oh  no,  God  forbid  that  I  should 
forget  mesel  in  the  presence  of  a  priest." 

"But  I  saw  you  do  it,"  said  Luke,  who  was  fully  determined  to 
let  no  such  insincerity  pass  unreproved. 

"Ah  sure  that's  a  way  I  have,"  said  the  waiter.  "They  thry  to 
break  me  of  it,  but  they  can't.  I  got  it  from  me  poor  father  — 
may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  his  sowl."  ^ 

All  this  was  very  unlike  what  the  homecoming  priest 
had  but  recently  met  in  England,  where  everything  seemed 
so  straight  and  deliberate  and  poised  and  polished  and 
mechanical. 

His  old  familiars  noted  the  change  in  him.  "Where  did 
he  get  that  imperial  accint?"  —  "And  his  way  so  stiff  and 
solemn  and  grand?"  —  "I  wonder  if  the  poor  will  hke  him," 
a  nun  had  said.  "They  will.  Sister,  dear,  as  soon  as  he 
gets  his  bearings  and  they  find  him  out;  for  he  has  the 
Irish  priestly  heart  underneath  all  that  grand  English  air 
which,  if  it  don't  wear  off,  will  not  prevent  the  inner  wheels 
of  his  God-given  faith  from  moving  in  the  regular  way  of 
their  natural  mechanism." 

Bishop  John  McCarthy,  having  watched  over  the  young 
priest  from  his  infancy,  as  a  true  godfather,  felt  probably 
an  intelligent  sympathy  with  his  ideals,  and  accordingly 
with  the  disappointments  which  must  await  Father  Sheehan 
in  Ireland  if  he  appHed  himself  with  anything  like  the 
apostoHc  zeal  that  was  in  him. 

It  may  then  have  been  part  of  the  Bishop's  pastoral 
wisdom  to  send  the  young  priest  to  his  native  town  of 
Mallow,  where  any  accidental  excess  of  apostolic  ardor  in 

»  Ibid.,  Chap.  XXV,  "Altruism,"  p.  325. 


78  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

the  attempt  at  molding  people  and  circumstances  upon  a 
foreign  pattern  would  meet  with  the  kindly  indulgence  and 
good-natured  humor  begotten  of  old  associations.  If  such 
was  the  case,  we  shall  see  that  it  took  Father  Sheehan  some 
time  before  he  could  enter  into  the  benevolent  designs  of 
his  superior  and  friend.  He  retained  the  idea  of  improving 
the  Irish  people  after  the  model  he  had  learnt  to  admire  in 
England.  And  if  in  the  attempt  he  saw  at  times  the  humor- 
ous side  of  an  incongruous  situation,  he  did  not  give  up  at 
once  the  behef  that  he  was  destined  to  succeed.  Eventually 
he  found  the  proper  mean.  But  it  was  not  until  he  had 
reached  mature  age  that  he  realized  how  hard  it  is  to  carve 
human  nature  into  perfect  lines,  and  that  the  more  practical 
plan  is  to  let  it  grow  under  the  gentle  pressure  of  prayerful 
direction.  Ultimately  he  adapted  himself  and  his  measures 
so  as  to  reach  the  mind  and  heart  of  those  whom  he  in- 
tended to  improve  and  elevate.  It  looked  for  many  a 
year  like  failure;  but  he  succeeded,  though  without  the 
glamor  that  would  have  made  his  triumph  jubilant  in 
earlier  days. 

In  some  ways  it  was  an  advantage  that  he  was  to  be  still 
dependent  and  under  direction.  Whatever  schemes  of  re- 
form on  the  model  of  his  English  experiences  he  might  pro- 
ject, he  should  have  to  consult  not  merely  opportunities  but 
also  the  views  and  wishes  of  his  pastor. 

The  spiritual  interests  of  Mallow  at  this  time  were  in  the 
keeping  of  the  venerable  Archdeacon  O'Regan.  He  had  been 
Vicar  Forane  and  Parish  Priest  of  Kanturk,  and  was  now 
head  of  the  Diocesan  Chapter  of  Cloyne,  and  Vicar  General. 
There  were  three  curates. 

Father  Sheehan  had  shown  no  disappointment  at  being 
sent  to  his  native  town  as  curate.  He  had  apparently 
welcomed  the  change.  Still  it  would  seem  that  for  a  while 
the  temptation  of  a  yearning  to  go  back  to  England  some 
time  or  other,  followed  him. 

"My  books  are  in  their  cases.     I  daren't  unpack  them." 

"Why?" 

"Why,  because,  first  I  shall  not  remain  here.     Secondly,  there 


Chap.  V  ]  BACK  IN  IRELAND  79 

is  no  room  to  put  them  in.     Thirdly,  those  women  would  ruin 

them.     Fourthly,  where  is  the  use  in  continuing  one's  studies  in 

such  a  country.'"' 

"Phew,"  said  his  friend,  an  old  neighbor  of  his  parish,  "you 

have  a  lot  to  learn  and  unlearn  yet  which  is  not  found  in  books." 
"I  have  learnt  that  life  is  very  miserable,  whatever." 
"A  priest  should  not  complain.     He  is  a  soldier.     The  outpost 

duty  is  not  pleasant,  but  it  is  a  duty.     The  Church  was  not  created 

for  priests  but  the  priesthood  for  the  Church."  ^ 

Few  of  Father  Sheehan's  associates  among  the  Irish 
clergy,  and  fewer  still  of  his  parishioners,  would  be  likely 
to  attach  particular  distinction  to  his  having  been  adminis- 
trator of  a  respectable  parish  across  the  Channel.  To  them 
he  was  simply  a  curate  in  a  provincial  town  in  Ireland, 
lately  returned  to  his  native  diocese.  He  himself  knew  his 
merits  and  that  moreover  he  was  the  ward  of  the  Bishop. 
One  would  suspect  that  all  this  made  him  feel  a  bit  restive 
and  perhaps  desirous  of  other  arrangements.  But  he  was 
to  remain  here  in  Mallow  for  several  years. 

The  archdeacon  was  a  saintly  man,  who  at  his  age  saw 
the  supernatural  side  of  things  as  the  only  one  really 
worth  while  considering.  But  holiness  of  the  normal  type 
does  not  greatly  impress  younger  workers  who  are  engaged 
in  heroic  pursuits,  and  who  consider  that  life  is  meant  for 
strenuous  work,  for  self-improvement,  and  for  reform.  This 
latter  was  Father  Sheehan's  bent  and  determination,  as  is 
very  plain  from  his  writings,  especially  his  earlier  efforts. 
The  impulse  was  too  strong  at  the  outset  to  allow  him  to 
reflect  much.  This  was  a  handicap  to  his  priestly  zeal. 
"Surrounded  in  spirit  with  the  atmosphere  which  he  had 
brought  from  abroad  with  him,  he  failed  to  enter  into  the 
traditions  and  beUefs  of  the  people. '  In  trying  to  modify 
these  for  better  and  more  modern  practices,  he  was  both 
right  and  wrong.  He  could  never  understand  why  the 
people  should  not  fit  in  their  ideas  with  his;  nor  the  necessity 
of  proceeding  slowly  in  uprooting  ancient  customs,  and 
conserving  whatever  was  useful  in  them.     Hence  he  was  at 

1  Ibid,  Chap.  XXVI,  "The  Secret  of  The  King,"  p.  347. 


8o  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

times  in  conflict  with  the  people's  ideas.  They  were  puzzled 
at  what  they  deemed  an  almost  sacrilegious  interference 
with  their  habits;  he  was  annoyed  at  their  unwillingness  to 
adopt  his  ideals.  But  they  had  too  deep  and  reverential 
a  fear  and  respect  for  his  sacred  character  to  say  anything 
but  what  was  deferential." 

How  clearly  he  saw  all  this  in  subsequent  years  he  brings 
out  in  My  Neiv  Curate^  and  to  some  extent  also  in  The 
Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray.  The  vivid  realism  with  which  he 
therein  states  his  sentiments  have  led  many  to  believe  that 
the  Canon  Sheehan  of  later  years  was  the  "Daddy  Dan" 
of  his  first  famous  book;  just  as  others  have  seen  his  earlier 
life  protrayed  in  Luke  Delmege.  This  is  not  quite  correct. 
While  most  of  his  novels  contain  actual  experiences,  and 
while  there  are  passages  here  and  there  in  which  he  puts 
his  own  thoughts  and  sentiments  into  the  mouth  of  the  hero 
whom  he  portrays,  no  one  character  in  any  of  his  books 
completely  reveals  the  writer  as  he  lived.  Much  of  the 
convictions  of  his  later  years  is  to  be  found  in  the  senti- 
ments of  the  grave  old  parish  priest  of  Doonvarragh, 
Lackagh,  and  Athboy,  Dr.  Gray.  Yet  there  are  great 
differences  here  also. 

Characters  that  are  sound  are  like  good  wines.  They  be- 
come more  sweet  as  they  mature,  whereas  selfish  natures 
sour  with  age.  This  is  exemplified  in  Canon  Sheehan.  It 
explains  the  apparent  contrast  between  the  severe  eager- 
ness with  which,  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  ministry,  he 
noted  and  roundly  scored  defects  of  national  character, 
and  the  generous  tolerance,  and  even  ingeniousness,  with 
which  he  apologized  for,  or  turned  into  virtues,  those 
same  faults,  during  later  years,  when  he  was  pastor  in 
Doneraile.  And  this  fact  alone  indicates  that  his  ideals 
were  not  begotten  of  mere  conceit  or  moody  egotism,  but 
sprang  from  a  high  conception  of  duty  as  he  saw  it.  If 
anything  like  harsh  judgment  is  found  in  his  later  books, 
it  is  because  these  parts  represent  the  earher  period  of  his 
activity  as  a  writer,  and  were  only  utilized  when  he  was  too 
ill  to  do  any  fresh  work.     But  it  is  interesting,  here  as 


Chap.  V]  BACK   IN   IRELAND  8i 

elsewhere,  to  follow  the  fashioning  of  his  ideals  even  when 
he  presents  them  to  us  in  the  slightly  exaggerated  forms  in 
which  writers  advocating  certain  reforms  commonly  clothe 
their  figures.  Like  Dickens  or  Thackeray  he  sometimes 
overdraws  his  characters  in  order  that  they  may  arrest 
attention. 

He  had,  at  this  time,  some  fixed  ideals.  They  were  excel- 
lent, if  not  always  practicable.  In  England  he  had  been 
given  to  understand  that  punctuality  was  one  of  the  car- 
dinal virtues  of  the  people,  and  that  if  Mass  did  not  begin 
on  the  minute  most  of  the  congregation  would  leave  the 
church  under  the  assumpton  that  there  was  to  be  no 
service.  Here  in  Ireland  it  was  different.  But  the  EngHsh 
way  was  better;  so  he  sought  to  introduce  it.  The  at- 
tempt is  pictured  in  Luke  Delmege.  The  first  time  the 
curate  found  himself  obhged  to  attend  a  funeral  in  the 
country  the  hour  for  the  rite  had  been  set  at  eleven  o'clock. 

"Eleven  o'clock  is  eleven  o'clock,"  said  Luke  with  emphasis. 
"It  is  not  five  minutes  to  eleven  nor  five  minutes  after  eleven; 
but  eleven,  you  understand?" 

"Av  coorse,  yer  reverence.  'Tis  a  long  journey  to  the  abbey 
and  we  must  start  airly." 

Luke  was  at  the  house  of  mourning  at  five  minutes  to  eleven. 
There  was  no  sign  of  a  funeral.     He  protested. 

"The  hearse  and  the  coffin  have  not  come,  yer  reverence," 
was  the  reply. 

"But  why  not?     Were  they  ordered?" 

"They  were  ordhered  to  be  here  on  the  sthroke  of  tin,"  was  the 
answer. 

At  about  half-past  eleven  the  hearse  was  driven  up  leisurely. 

"Why  weren't  you  here  at  the  time  appointed?"  said  Luke 
angrily. 

"The  toime  appinted?"  said  the  driver  coolly;  "yerra,  what 
hurry  is  there?     Isn't  the  day  long?" 

Luke  gave  up  the  riddle.  Half-past  eleven  came,  twelve, 
half-past  twelve;  and  then  the  neighbors  began  to  gather.  Luke's 
temper  was  rising  with  every  minute  that  was  thus  lost.  And 
then  he  began  to  notice  the  young  girls  of  the  house  rushing  out 
frantically,  and  dragging  in  the  drivers  and  jarvies  to  the  house  of 


82  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

mourning,  from  which  these  soon  emerged,  suspiciously  wiping 
their  mouths  with  the  back  of  the  hand.     Luke  seized  one. 

"You  have  had  drink  there?"  he  said. 

"A  little  taste  agin  the  road,  yer  reverence,"  the  man  said. 

"That's  enough,"  said  Luke.  He  tore  off  the  cypress  lawn, 
which  the  priests  of  Ireland  wear  in  the  form  of  a  deacon's  stole, 
and  flung  it  on  the  ground,  then  he  turned  the  horse's  head  home- 
ward. There  was  a  cry  of  consternation,  and  a  shout.  But 
Luke  was  determined.  He  peremptorily  ordered  the  man  to  drive 
forward.  One  or  two  farmers  begged  and  besought  him  to  re- 
main, and  even  caught  his  horse's  head.  Luke  took  the  whip 
and  drove  his  horse  into  a  gallop;  and  never  drew  rein  till  he 
entered  the  yard. 

"You're  early  home,"  said  the  old  priest. 

"Yes,"  said  Luke,  laconically. 

"You  didn't  go  the  whole  way?  Anything  wrong  with  the 
marer 

"I  didn't  attend  the  funeral,"  said  Luke.  "I  saw  them  dis- 
pensing drink;   and  the  statutes  forbade  me  to  attend  further." 

"The  wha-at?"  said  the  old  man. 

"The  statutes  —  the  statutes  of  the  diocese,"  said  Luke  im- 
patiently. 

" Phiew-ew-ew-ew,"  whistled  the  old  man.  And,  after  a  pause: 
"You'll  have  a  nice  row  over  this,  young  man.  They  may  for- 
give all  your  abuse  of  the  country,  and  your  comparisons  with 
England.  But  they'll  never  forgive  you  for  turning  your  back  on 
the  dead.  And  Myles  McLoughlin  was  the  decentest  man  in  the 
parish." 

"But  are  not  the  statutes  clear  on  the  point?"  said  Luke, 
"and  where  is  the  use  of  legislation  if  it  is  not  carried  out?" 

"You  are  not  long  in  this  country?"  said  the  old  man. 

The  next  Sunday  a  deputation  called  on  the  pastor  asking  for 
the  removal  of  "this  Englishman."  He  tried  to  "soother  them 
down."  ^ 

Whether  or  not  young  Father  Sheehan  had  actually  to 
meet  such  or  similar  situations  at  Mallow,  it  is  certain 
that  he  was  conscious  of  a  contrast  between  the  people's 
ingrained  notions  and  his  aspirations  in  their  behalf.  As 
he  says  of  Luke: 

1  Ibid.,  Chap   XXVII,  "A  Great  Treasure,"  p.  352. 


Chap.  V  ]  BACK   IN  IRELAND  83 

Cast  into  new  environments,  how  could  he  fit  in  suddenly 
with  them?  Suave,  gentle,  polished,  cultivated,  through  secret 
reflection,  large  reading,  and  all  that  had  been  filed  down  into 
tranquil  and  composed  mannerism,  how  was  he  to  adapt  himself 
to  circumstances,  where  a  boisterous  and  turbulent  manner  would 
be  interpreted  as  an  indication  of  a  strong,  free,  generous  mind, 
and  where  his  gentle  urbanity  would  be  equally  interpreted  as  the 
outer  and  visible  sign  of  a  weak,  timid  disposition,  with  too  great 
a  bias  toward  gentility? 

There  was  an  alternative.  He  might  be  able  to  lead  the 
people  by  persuasion  to  adopt  the  better  v^ays  which  he 
had  discovered  abroad. 

"Now,  I  don't  want  to  hurt  your  feelings,  Connor,"  he  would 
say  to  a  parishioner;  "but  don't  you  know  that  that  festering 
heap  of  compost  is  a  nest  of  typhus  and  diphtheria?  The  hor- 
rible miasma  pollutes  the  entire  atmosphere  and  fills  the  house 
with  disease." 

"I  suppose  so,  yer  reverence;  but  begor  no  one  died  in  this 
house  for  the  past  three  ginirations,  except  of  ould  age." 

"That  is  exceptional,"  Luke  would  reply;  "but  apart  from  the 
question  of  sanitation,  don't  you  think  that  a  few  flower-beds 
would  look  better  than  that  dismal  swamp?" 

"Of  course,  yer  reverence,  but  we  would  have  to  pay  dear  for 
them." 

"Not  at  all.  A  few  wall  flowers  in  spring,  and  a  few  tufts  of 
primroses  —  there  are  thousands  of  them  in  the  springtime  in 
the  hedgerows  —  and  a  few  simple  geraniums  in  the  summer, 
would  not  cost  you  one  half  crown.  Now,  Lizzie,  don't  you  agree 
with  me?" 

"I  do,  Father,"  Lizzie  would  say. 

"So  do  I,  yer  reverence;  but  it  isn't  the  cost  of  the  flowers  I 
am  thinking  of,  but  the  risin'  of  the  tint.  Every  primrose  would 
cost  me  a  shillin';    and  —  "  ^ 

However  much  he  tried,  he  found  it  hard  to  make  his 
purpose  understood.  Nor  could  he  persuade  himself  that 
the  methods  he  was  advocating  were  not  in  the  right  direc- 
tion; he  was  sure  that  the  pattern  was  of  a  superior  type, 
and  that  in  abandoning  it  he  would  have  to  descend.  As 
^Ibid.,  Chap.  XXVI,  "The  Secret  of  the  King,"  p.  343. 


84  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

a  last  resort  —  there  were  the  young  people.  They  could 
learn,  and  they  were  not  hampered  by  traditions  and 
obstinacy.  They  were  growing  up  to  be  the  representa- 
tives and  defenders  of  the  principles  for  which  he  himself, 
like  every  other  loyal  Irishman,  would  have  eventually  to 
stand.  Whatever  the  educational  opportunities  that  made 
the  EngHsh  youth  superior,  he  knew  that  his  own  people 
were  as  capable  as  any  other  in  the  world.  All  they  lacked 
was  the  proper  training.  And  they  would  need  it  in  the 
days  when  political  independence  should  call  on  Ireland 
to  manage  her  own  affairs. 

From  records  in  the  local  press  of  the  time  it  is  evident 
that  Father  Sheehan,  shortly  after  assuming  his  duties  as 
curate  at  Mallow,  undertook  to  organize  the  youth  of  the 
town  who  had  left  school.  He  did  so  with  the  purpose  not 
only  of  promoting  their  spiritual  welfare,  but  also  of  sow- 
ing, as  far  as  possible,  the  seeds  of  intellectual  culture. 
The  training  he  proposed  to  give  them  would  be  of  service 
in  their  later  intercourse  with  the  outside  world.  Now  that 
he  foresaw  conditions,  in  the  political  as  well  as  the  social 
life  of  the  nation,  that  seemed  to  demand  preparation  on 
the  part  of  those  who  were  some  day  to  shape  the  destinies 
of  the  race,  he  had  found  the  opportunity  for  congenial 
work. 

Among  the  means  adopted  to  give  permanence  to  his 
efforts  to  elevate  the  ideals  of  Irish  youth  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Literary  Society  in  the  Mallow  parish.  We 
have  the  inaugural  address  delivered  by  him  on  that  occa- 
sion, in  the  winter  of  1880.  In  outlining  the  purpose  of  the 
society  he  recalls  the  two  maxims  he  had  found  in  Carlyle. 
One  is:  "Know  thy  work  and  do  it,"  This,  he  says,  is 
the  latest  message  that  has  come  to  us  from  the  "Voices 
and  Sages,"  the  men  that  have  thought  and  spoken  and 
written  for  the  well-being  of  mankind.  The  other  is:  "To 
make  one  spot  of  God's  world  a  little  brighter,  better  and 
happier,  here  is  work  for  a  god."  He  believed  that  the 
first  of  these  two  statements  contained  the  soundest  and 
safest  motto  for  each  individual  member  of  society;    and 


Chap.  V]  BACK  IN  IRELAND  85 

that  the  second  was  a  perfect  embodiment  of  the  ideas  that 
suggested  the  formation  of  the  society.  It  is  quite  ap- 
parent from  this  that  he  did  not  regard  the  work  to  be 
done  by  the  members  as  confined  exclusively,  nor  even 
mainly,  to  literary  culture.  His  aim  was  much  more  com- 
prehensive and  included  all  that  tended  to  strengthen, 
chasten,  elevate  mind  and  heart,  while  improving  deport- 
ment. "It  is  to  make  you,  gentlemen,  worthy  of  your- 
selves, worthy  of  your  religion,  and  worthy  of  your  country, 
that  this  Institute  has  been  established.  We  know  the  vast 
importance  that  attends  the  education  of  young  men, 
we  know  what  a  power  they  are  in  every  community,  what 
great  influence  they  wield  for  good  or  for  evil.  We  utterly 
disdain  the  intention  of  making  this  Institute  a  mere  place 
of  amusement,  where  a  few  hours  may  be  spent  with 
pleasure,  but  without  profit.  We  have  a  higher  ambition. 
We  desire  to  make  it  the  means  of  supplying  to  you  a  knowl- 
edge of  all  those  subjects  that  are  interesting  to  the  modern 
world,  and  are  familiar  to  the  minds  of  educated  men."^ 

There  were  as  a  result  regular  lectures  and  monthly  de- 
bates, which  aimed  to  elicit  the  latent  talent  in  the  parish, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  create  a  taste  for  literature,  while 
fostering  and  training  the  youthful  minds  to  reason  closely 
and  logically  and  to  express  their  thoughts  with  accuracy 
and  ease. 

As  there  were  already  two  confraternities  in  the  parish 
that  supplied  the  religious  wants  of  the  young  people,  it 
became  comparatively  easy  to  interest  the  members  in 
the  upholding  of  the  noble  ideals  thus  placed  before  them 
by  their  spiritual  guide. 

Other  causes  helped  to  stimulate  these  efforts  in  the 
direction  of  educating  the  younger  generation  to  higher 
things.  The  government  had  proposed  a  new  program  of 
education,  which  promised  to  open  certain  avenues  to  civil 
advancement  by  competition.  This  plan  had  been  issued 
just  before  Father  Sheehan  left  England  to  return  to  his 
native  country.     A  friend,   of  whom  he  writes  that  "his 

^  "Irish  Youth  and  High  Ideals,"  in  Early  Essays  and  Lectures  (edition  1912), 


86  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

rare  mind  could  at  a  glance  foresee  consequences,"  had  said 
to  him  in  regard  to  the  passing  of  the  Intermediate  Edu- 
cation Act  in  1878,  "The  Tories  have  outwitted  the  Irish 
priesthood  at  last.  They  have  introduced  into  the  Primary 
and  Secondary  Schools  —  and  they  will  introduce  into 
the  University  scheme  —  the  system  of  payment  by  re- 
sults. The  consequence  will  be  that  in  a  short  time  your 
whole  educational  system  in  Ireland,  from  the  lowest  bench 
in  the  country  school  to  the  aula  maxima  of  the  Univer- 
sity, will  be  thoroughly  secularized." 

Father  Sheehan  remembered  these  words,  and,  young 
as  he  was,  he  set  himself  to  combat  the  danger.  He  devoted 
all  the  time  he  could  spare  from  the  practical  duties  of 
the  pastoral  mission  to  improving  the  course  of  religious 
instruction,  both  in  the  schools  and  among  the  young 
people  who  had  passed  from  the  control  of  the  catechism 
classes.  This  became  one  of  the  marked  activities  in  his 
life,  and  he  attained  thereby  excellent  results  both  here  in 
Mallow,  and  afterward  in  his  own  parish  at  Doneraile. 


CURATE    AT    THE    QUEENSTOWN    CATHEDRAL — 1886 


VI 

CALLED   TO   QUEENSTOWN 
1881-1! 


FOUR  years  had  passed  since  his  return  to  Ireland. 
He  had  added  fresh  experience  to  his  store  of  pas- 
toral knowledge.  He  had  come  to  understand  that 
the  difference  of  national  temper  between  his  own  people 
and  their  political  masters  was  fundamental,  and  that  this 
fact  could  not  be  ignored  in  their  economic  and  religious 
improvement.  He  had  come  to  see  the  two  nations  by- 
comparison  on  a  common  scale,  and  as  a  result  his  love  for 
his  countrymen  had  taken  on  a  degree  of  deeper  affection 
than  he  had  been  conscious  of  in  the  years  before. 

Early  in  1881  the  Bishop  called  him  to  the  Cathedral  in 
Queenstown,  It  must  have  been  gratifying  to  Father 
Sheehan  to  find  himself  now  closely  associated  with  his 
old  pastor  and  friend,  the  one  man  who  perhaps  under- 
stood him  thoroughly  and  bore  him  in  his  heart.  It  seemed 
like  the  return  of  the  old  days  when  Patrick  Sheehan  was 
the  altar  boy  and  Father  McCarthy,  now  the  Bishop,  the 
parish  priest  of  Mallow. 

The  new  field  of  labor  thus  opened  to  the  young  curate's 
zeal  was  to  be  one  of  varied  activities.  Whilst  unquestion- 
ably more  difficult  than  the  work  at  Mallow,  the  duties 
of  his  new  post  were  likely  to  offer  him  the  very  oppor- 
tunities he  required  for  the  exercise  of  his  special  talents 
and  gifts  of  observation.  He  at  once  bent  himself  with 
whole-hearted  devotion  to  his  tasks,  and  in  particular  to 
the  catechetical  work  of  the  schools.  To  preaching  and  in- 
struction he  proposed  to  add  now  the  systematic  aid  of 
the  pen.  Often  before  he  had  felt  the  impulse  to  write. 
In  fact  he  had  contributed  articles  from  time  to  time  to  the 
local  journals.     For   the  rest,  his   literary  work  had  been 

87 


88  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

mostly  fugitive  papers  and  occasional  verse.  His  efforts 
had  been  encouraged  by  Father  Matthew  Russell,  the  genial 
editor  of  the  Irish  Monthly.  But  now  he  would  turn  his 
energies  to  an  appeal  for  wider  interest  in  the  educational 
problems  of  the  time  in  which  he  was  concerned.  He  felt 
that  there  was  a  field  wherein  the  pen  could  do  more  good 
than  either  the  pulpit  or  personal  efforts  confined  to  his 
immediate  locality. 

His  first  article  appeared  in  September,  i88i.^  It  was 
entitled  "Religious  Instruction  in  Intermediate  Schools." 
The  writer  urged  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  religious 
training  that  would  be  adequate  to  the  wants  of  the  age. 
The  course  should  be  made  correlative  with  the  secular 
system  and  in  a  sense  also  obligatory,  either  by  episcopal 
supervision,  or  by  public  criticism  directed  toward  re- 
ligious as  well  as  intellectual  advancement.  He  pointed 
out  the  pernicious  influences  which  the  standard  of  com- 
petition in  secular  education  was  apt  to  exercise  on  the 
minds  of  young  men  ambitious  for  success.  These  needed 
a  wide-reaching  knowledge  of  their  faith,  so  as  to  allow 
their  meeting  on  even  ground  of  debate  and  criticism  the 
skeptics  and  materialists  of  modern  society. 

"To  prevent  contamination  from  these  pernicious  doc- 
trines (of  materialistic  science)  by  our  Irish  youth,"  he  wrote, 
"must  be  the  proximate  and  pressing  duty  of  those  to  whom 
the  faith  and  morals  of  the  rising  generation  are  largely 
entrusted.  There  is  sound  material  for  a  new  knighthood 
of  chivalrous  faith  and  virtue,  if  all  the  generous  impulses 
of  virgin  minds  and  hearts  be  swayed  by  the  convictions 
that  have  hitherto  governed  our  people.  .  .  .  But  if  re- 
ligious instruction  be  practically  eliminated  from  our  com- 
mon schools,  by  not  being  raised  to  a  level  of  importance 
with  secular  learning,  we  shall  not  remain  a  high  principled 
race,  nor  become  a  cultured  one." 

The  position  taken  by  Father  Sheehan  was  of  course 
not  new.  The  subject  had  been  for  some  time  discussed 
among  the  bishops,  especially  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  where 

*  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  Vol.  II,  pp.  521-531. 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  89 

the  proposed  legislation  would  gain  more  rapid  influence 
over  the  population,  largely  Protestant.  The  Bishop  of 
Down  and  Connor  had  prescribed  a  detailed  course  of 
Religious  Instruction  which  covered  nine  grades,  beginning 
with  the  infants,  not  classed,  under  six  years.  The  scheme 
provided  for  regular  religious  inspection.  Of  this  measure 
it  was  said  that  it  did  more  for  the  protection  of  the  faith 
and  morals  of  the  Catholic  flock  than  had  been  eff"ected 
by  all  the  other  measures  of  zealous  pastors.  The  Very 
Rev.  Daniel  McCashin,  of  St.  Malachy's  College,  Belfast, 
commented  on  the  scheme.^ 

At  the  same  time  the  matter  of  Religious  Examinations 
in  Primary  Schools  had  been  discussed,  and  a  prominent 
priest  in  the  Dublin  archdiocese  writing  anonymously  had 
pointed  out  the  danger  of  emphasizing  the  importance  of 
literary  instruction  over  that  of  Christian  Doctrine.  He  had 
cited  the  evidence  of  the  late  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  given  in 
1870  before  the  Royal  Commission  on  Primary  Educa- 
tion, when  a  program  of  studies  introduced  in  France  had 
been  suggested  as  suitable  for  the  schools  in  Ireland: 

Do  not  take  as  a  model  .  .  .  the  bill  promoted  by  M.  de 
Faillard  (in  France)  when  he  was  minister  of  Public  Instruction. 
One  of  the  Committee  who  sat  upon  that  bill  was  Mons.  Thiers, 
who  had  been  minister  in  different  capacities  under  Louis  Philippe. 
In  his  report  to  the  Corps  Legislatif  he  said:  "We  have  been, 
up  to  the  present,  developing  the  intelligence  of  young  Frenchmen; 
we  have  been  imposing  no  restraints  on  the  passions  of  hearts,  and 
the  result  is  that  France  is  in  a  state  of  constant  revolution.  The 
generation  trained  from  1 772-1 792  brought  about  a  revolu- 
tion. Another  revolution  in  1830;  another  revolution  in  1848, 
and  you  may  be  quite  sure  that  France  has  not  done  with  revo- 
lutions yet.  —  Gentlemen,  we  must  retrace  our  steps.  We  must 
make  education  more  religious  than  it  has  been  up  to  the  present 
moment;  we  must  put  it  upon  the  former  basis;  and  if  we  do  not, 
I  tremble  for  the  future  of  France."  ^ 

The  embers  thus  glowing  in  diff"erent  parts  of  Ireland 
Father  Sheehan  hoped  to  kindle  anew.     His  article  gives 

^  See  article  in  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  for  1881.  ^  Ibid. 


90  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

us  in  a  nutshell  the  aims  and  ideals  which  later  on,  though 
in  a  somewhat  altered  fashion,  he  sets  forth  in  Geoffrey 
Austin  and  The  Triumph  of  Failure.  Perhaps  his  plea, 
which  indicates  remarkable  ability  to  master  a  difficult 
situation,  might  have  been  taken  up  with  enthusiasm  if  he 
had  been  better  known.  A  certain  diffidence  and  fear  of 
criticism  had  caused  him  to  withhold  his  full  name  from 
the  reader.  As  the  article  failed  to  arouse  the  expected 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  he  did  not  follow  it  up. 

But  he  continued  to  write.  In  December  of  the  same 
year  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  published  a  thoughtful 
paper  by  him  on  the  subject  of  Christian  Art.  It  was  meant 
as  a  protest  against  the  attempt  to  substitute  Pagan  models 
for  the  old  Christian  ideals.  The  article  was  occasioned 
by  a  picture,  exhibited  in  DubHn  in  1880,  which  had  at- 
tracted the  young  priest,  perhaps  because  of  its  Dantesque 
conception  and  a  certain  novelty  in  its  expression  of  spiri- 
tual forms.  The  subject  was  *' Satan  Watching  the  Sleep 
of  Christ."  It  was  from  the  brush  of  Sir  Noel  Paton,  the 
English  painter,  whose  work,  on  the  whole  religious  in  its 
trend,  contradicted  the  naturalism  advocated  by  contem- 
porary representatives  of  the  Academy.  The  analysis 
which  Father  Sheehan  makes  of  the  picture  is  of  value 
here  only  as  indicating  the  aesthetic  tendencies  shown  else- 
where in  his  writings.  It  is  in  keeping  with  his  predilection 
for  the  mystical  in  poetry,  of  which  element  Sir  Noel  Paton 
was  likewise  a  recognized  exponent. 

During  the  following  year  we  find  an  article  by  Father 
Sheehan  in  the  same  review  on  "The  Effects  of  Emigration 
on  the  Irish  Church"  (Oct.  1882).  Later,  in  March  1883, 
one  on  "Gambetta";  and  another  in  October,  1884,  on 
"Emerson's  Philosophy."  Shortly  after  this,  November 
1884,  he  contributed  a  paper  on  "  Free  Thought  in  America." 
Then  for  a  time  his  pen  seems  to  have  rested.  Two  years 
later  he  discusses  "Education  at  German  Universities,"  in 
three  articles.^ 

1  June,  July,  and  August,  1886,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  496,  617,  685,  of  the  Irish  Ecclesias- 
tical Record. 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  91 

These  papers  mark  a  further  movement  in  the  direction 
of  his  studies  of  German  thought  and  letters.  They  were 
intended  as  a  contribution  to  the  discussion  of  the  Irish 
University  question,  and  treated  the  subject  from  the 
academic  rather  than  the  poHtical  or  economic  aspect. 
He  asks:  "What  ideal  should  be  put  before  a  University 
of  Irish  students  who  hold  their  country's  destinies  in  their 
hands?"  and  whose  true  ideal  is  that  "Ireland  should  be 
once  more  what  it  was  of  old,  a  nation  of  saintly  scholars." 

His  answer  is  that  we  must  go  for  our  model  to  the 
German  universities.  There  alone  of  all  modern  schools 
do  we  find  "the  highest  conception  of  University  life,  its 
spheres  of  thought  limited  only  by  the  boundary  lines  of 
human  knowledge,  and  its  work  free  and  flexible,  with 
rigid  principles  of  religion  on  the  one  hand,  and  patriotism 
on  the  other."  As  his  guide  he  takes,  strangely  enough,  a 
Frenchman,  Pere  Didon.  The  latter  had,  a  little  while 
before,  given  to  the  world  his  famous  book,  Les  Allemands^ 
which  within  a  single  year  passed  through  thirty  editions. 
Its  reasonings  were  the  result  of  study  and  personal  observa- 
tion by  the  French  Dominican,  and  they  carried  no  little 
weight  even  in  England,  where  his  eloquence  had  attracted 
large  crowds  during  the  Lenten  conferences  in  1866.  Didon's 
fame  as  an  orator  had  been  superseded  by  admiration  for 
his  practical  patriotism  when  he  took  up  the  duties  of  the 
military  hospital  service  on  the  battlefield  during  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  Next  we  see  the  Friar  Preacher 
attend  lectures  at  the  Berlin  and  Leipzig  Universities,  os- 
tensibly to  ascertain  the  secret  of  German  efficiency,  not 
only  in  war  but  in  economics,  of  which  he  had  been  witness 
at  Metz.  On  his  return  from  Berlin  he  set  out  to  teach  his 
people  what  he  had  learnt  from  its  Teuton  enemy.  He  was 
no  more  in  sympathy  with  Germans  than  they  were  with 
him,  in  spite  of  the  praise  he  felt  bound  to  accord  to  them 
and  their  methods.  "He  made  the  largest  sacrifice,"  says 
Father  Sheehan,  "a  Frenchman  can  make  —  that  of 
national  vanity  —  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  a  wholesome 
lesson  to  his  nation."     The  French  scholar's  philosophical 


92  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

habit  of  generalization  is  often  broken  by  an  exclamation 
of  pain  as  he  sees  some  striking  instance  of  German  su- 
periority, or  some  special  manifestation  of  the  patriotic 
instinct,  which  is  so  universal  in  its  extent,  and  so  well 
directed  in  its  energies.  From  the  day  he  entered  the  Ger- 
man university  to  the  time  when  "his  book  came  forth 
from  the  press,  and  was  received  with  a  scream  of  agony 
from  his  vain  countrymen,  Pere  Didon  went  through 
purgatorial  pains,  with  one  sentence  of  solace  on  his  heart: 
'You  shall  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
tree. 

Father  Sheehan  in  reviewing  the  conclusions  of  the 
French  Dominican  incidentally  compares  them  on  the  one 
hand  with  those  of  John  Henry  Newman  in  his  Idea  of  a 
University^  and  on  the  other  with  criticisms  by  Dr.  Pusey. 
Didon,  Hke  Newman,  argues  for  the  reestabhshment  of 
the  theological  disciplines  as  part  of  a  fully  equipped  uni- 
versity. He  prefers  that  system  to  the  exclusive  training 
given  to  students  for  the  priesthood  in  the  French  semi- 
naries, where  they  are  practically  cut  off  from  touch  with 
the  world  and  its  cultural  influences,  although  they  may  be 
free  also  from  its  dangers.  Strength  of  character,  he  argues, 
such  as  is  required  to  meet  religious  antagonism  in  daily 
social  life,  is  not  developed  in  the  hothouse  atmosphere  of 
seclusion,  whatever  the  student  may  gain  in  devotion  to 
principle  and  in  the  exclusive  learning  that  trains  the  mind 
and  heart  to  exalted  aspirations  and  the  understanding  of 
the  higher  life.  What  Father  Sheehan,  like  Pere  Didon, 
deemed  of  greatest  educational  advantage  to  the  people 
was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  accepted  methods  at  home. 
These  were  calculated  to  train  rather  a  body  of  anchorites 
and  ascetics  whose  spiritual  aims  were  too  far  removed  from 
the  actuaHties  of  life.  The  religious  leaders  of  the  nation, 
under  this  system  of  schools,  would  fail  to  exercise  any 
missionary  or  intellectual  influence  on  the  people  at  large. 
He  beheves  it  to  be  of  supreme  importance  for  Ireland  that 
she  should  share  the  dominion  over  human  thought,  by 
"utilizing    to    the    utmost    the    varied    and    inexhaustible 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  93 

treasures  of  talent  that  lie  hidden  around  us,  so  that  we 
could  explore  unknown  fields  of  thought,  and  garner  intel- 
lectual wealth  till  the  nations  of  the  earth  cried  out  with 
envy."  He  thinks  "that  Ireland's  right  is  to  open  sanctu- 
aries of  science  to  strangers,  and  send  apostles  of  intellect, 
as  we  send  to-day  apostles  of  faith,  to  nations  that  hail  the 
rising,  or  sadden  under  the  setting  sun."  And  all  this 
intellectual  glory  Ireland  is  to  acquire  whilst  the  deposit 
of  faith  remains  intact,  the  past  and  eternal  glory  of  Ire- 
land's fidelity  to  religion  undimmed,  whilst  her  science  is 
not  the  litter  of  dead  philosophies  dug  up  from  the  past  as 
the  members  of  a  mutilated  statue,  but  the  perfection  of 
the  fair  and  living  figure  that  woke  to  music  and  immortality 
when  the  sunlight  of  faith  had  dawned  upon  it." 

It  will  be  seen,  when  we  come  to  speak  in  detail  of  Canon 
Sheehan's  attitude  toward  the  educational  problems  of 
the  day,  how  false  is  the  estimate  which  those  of  his  critics 
have  formed  of  him  who  characterized  him  as  a  tradition- 
alist, timid  of  the  new,  clinging  with  reactionary  instinct 
to  the  old.  His  habitual  shrinking  from  the  pubHc  gaze 
by  no  means  implies  —  as  is  manifest  from  his  writings  on 
education  —  that  "he  lived  the  Monk,"  too  timid  to  face  the 
problems  of  the  age,  and  therefore  burying  himself  out  of 
sight  of  the  world's  riddles. 

During  the  following  year  Father  Sheehan  again  takes 
up  the  subject  of  German  superiority  in  methods  of  educa- 
tion. In  an  essay,  "The  German  and  Galhc  Muse,"^  he 
compares  German  with  French  poetry.  His  chief  purpose 
appears  to  be  to  combat  the  hero  worship  of  Victor  Hugo, 
whose  death  that  year  had  provoked  a  series  of  apotheoses 
in  England.  To  Father  Sheehan's  mind  the  eulogies  were 
out  of  keeping  with  the  estimate  formed  of  the  French 
writer  in  competent  literary  circles. 

Father  Sheehan's  bias  in  favor  of  German  thought, 
literature,  and  methods  of  education  did  not  blind  him  to 
the  prevailing  mihtarism  of  that  nation.  He  realizes  that 
"Germany  is  a  huge  barrack  where  every  adult  must  pass 

1  Irish  Eccelesiastical  Record,  Jan.  1887,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  42-53. 


94  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  I 

through  the  ordeal  of  a  severe  and  rigid  discipHne  to  form 
part  eventually  of  a  colossal  and  irresistible  force  that  may 
crush  the  French  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Slav  on  the 
other."  But  he  recognizes  under  all  this  the  energy  that 
accounts  for  success  in  the  higher  spheres  of  life,  in  educa- 
tion and  rehgion  as  well  as  in  military  discipline.  "The 
faculties  of  the  German  mind  are  so  well  balanced  that 
there  is  a  perpetual  protest  between  the  two  extremes  of 
thought  —  excessive  fancy  and  excessive  logic,  idealism 
and  materiaHsm,  and  the  mind  is  kept  in  that  happy  mean 
where  each  faculty  has  its  full  sweep  of  exercise  without  the 
peril  of  losing  itself  in  the  abysses  above  or  the  darker 
abysses  of  vulgar  materiaHsm  beneath."  He  beheved  with 
others  that  the  taste  for  metaphysical  studies  among  the 
Germans  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  be  thoroughly 
irreligious,  as  are  the  Latin  races  when  they  abandon 
dogmatic  belief.  He  appeals  for  corroboration  of  this  to 
Renan  and  Madame  de  Stael.  "Quand  un  Allemand," 
writes  the  former,^  "se  vante  d'etre  impie,  il  ne  faut  jamais 
le  croire  sur  la  parole.  L'Allemand  n'est  pas  capable 
d'etre  irreligieux.  La  religion,  c'est-a-dire  I'aspiration  du 
monde  ideal  est  le  fond  meme  de  sa  nature.  Quand  il  veut 
etre  athee,  il  Test  devotement  et  avec  une  sorte  d'onction." 

In  the  papers  thus  far  published  Father  Sheehan  betrays 
the  trend  of  his  special  studies.  These  had  furnished  him 
with  material  for  his  speculations  on  the  subject  of  classical 
and  religious  education.  Apparently  he  paid  little  attention 
to  the  economic  problems  which  later  on,  as  we  shall  see, 
engaged  him  so  largely,  and  which  became  a  very  important 
factor  in  the  solution  of  the  agrarian  difficulties  in  Ireland. 

During  the  summer  of  1888  Father  Sheehan  published^ 
a  critique  of  Matthew  Arnold's  literary  work.  Shortly 
after  this  the  Dublin  Review  brought  out  an  article  by  him 
on  recent  Augustinian  literature.^  To  this  latter  subject  he 
makes  reference  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the 

1  Etude  d'histoire  religieuse,  p.  417. 

2  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  June  1888. 

5  Dublin  Reviezv,  Vol.  XX,  July,  pp.  88-107. 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  95 

Irish  Monthly.  Father  Russell  had,  as  is  well  known,  a 
remarkable  gift  for  encouraging  literary  talent.  He  had 
befriended  among  others  young  William  Butler  Yeats, 
who  had  given  indications  of  superior  ability  by  sundry 
snatches  of  romantic  poetry  and  drama,  and  at  this  time 
was  engaged  in  the  interpretation  of  the  old  Gaelic  myths 
and  hero  tales,  of  which  Kuno  Meyer,  the  German  Celtic 
scholar,  had  shortly  before  given  Irish  readers  an  exquisite 
specimen  in  his  English  version  of  the  Kilcormac  Manu- 
script. The  Wanderings  of  Oisin  is  the  title  of  the  ode  to 
which  Father  Sheehan  makes  reference  in  the  following 
letter: 

QuEENSTOWN,  February  20,  '88. 

My  dear  Father  Russell, 

I  enclose  Postal  Order  for  5/-,  a  mite  to  help  your  young 
poet  to  the  light.  The  title  of  the  forthcoming  Vol.  would  have 
made  me  shudder,  if  I  did  not  remember  that  A.  de  Vere  (who  has 
been  wasted  by  Providence  in  this  generation)  touched  the  ghostly 
Ossian  and  put  flesh  on  him;  and  if  I  had  not  also  very  kind  and 
pleasant  recollections  of  some  of  Mr.  Yeats'  work  in  the  "Dublin 
University  Review,"  particularly  one  very  pretty  dramatic 
piece  called  "Mosada."  It  is  not  very  Catholic  in  tone,  but  is 
very  original  and  delicate.  The  refrains  at  the  ends  of  Mosada's 
dying  speech  are  very  touching. 

"The  Irish  Minstrelsy"  has  been,  I  believe,  the  most  successful 
publication  of  this  age.  It  has  had  a  pretty  large  sale,  even  here. 
It  is  really  wonderful.  I  found  in  it  a  ballad  which  I  had  been 
looking  for  for  years  —  since,  in  fact,  I  was  a  child  and  followed 
the  singer  of  it  in  wet  and  cold  up  and  down  the  streets  of  Mallow. 
I  cannot  recommend  it  to  you  for  publication  for  it  is  not  min- 
strelsy in  the  true  sense  of  the  word:  but  I  would  like  to  see 
"Condemned  to  Death"  by  "Bridgid"  better  known  than  it  is. 
I  think  you  inserted  it  in  an  obituary  notice  of  the  poetess  in  the 
"Monthly." 

D.  Bernards  is  33  years  old  —  a  fine  German  scholar,  with 
excellent  taste,  and  the  consciousness  that  he  is  not  perfect.  I 
have  been  urging  him  to  try  other  than  National  subjects.  He 
has  but  little  time  to  give  to  the  Muses. 

As  for  myself,  my  time  is  so  occupied  that  I  can  hardly  read 
my  Office.     I  have  just  finished  50  pages  of  Manuscript  represent- 


96  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

ing  15  pages  of  print  for  the  April  No.  of  the  Dublin  Review;   and 
I  have  been  promised  15  pages  for  July. 

I  may  possibly  be  seeking  your  good   offices  to  revise  some 
literary  work  (very  light)  in  July  or  August. 
I  am, 

My  dear  Fr.  Russell, 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

Father  Sheehan's  studies  in  Augustinian  literature,  of 
which  the  above  mentioned  article  gives  evidence,  were 
by  no  means  of  a  passing  or  perfunctory  nature,  such  as 
attracts  the  ordinary  book  critic.  From  his  boyhood  on, 
the  story  of  St.  Augustine  had  exercised  a  singular  fascina- 
tion for  him.  The  dramatic  contrasts  in  the  life  of  the 
African  student  at  Tagaste  and  at  Carthage,  and  later  on 
his  successes  as  a  rhetorician;  then  his  meeting  at  the 
instance  of  his  mother,  Monica,  with  St.  Ambrose;  his 
conversion  and  subsequent  missionary  activity  as  Bishop 
of  Hippo,  had  charmed  Patrick  Sheehan's  youthful  imagina- 
tion, and  induced  him  to  add  to  his  own  baptismal  name 
that  of  St.  Augustine.  His  sister  Margaret  had  caught 
the  attraction,  so  that  she  too  consecrated  her  life  to  re- 
ligion under  the  patronage  of  the  same  Saint.  When  after- 
ward, at  Maynooth,  Patrick  Sheehan  came  upon  the 
writings  of  the  great  Father  of  the  Church,  he  found  in 
them  fresh  fuel  to  feed  the  ardor  of  his  intellectual  and 
spiritual  aspirations.  St.  Augustine  became  to  him  the 
exponent  of  mystical  and  ascetical  theology.  It  was  the 
Platonic  element  more  than  the  Aristotelian  in  theological 
science  that  drew  young  Sheehan  during  all  his  studies. 
Here  he  found  illumination  as  well  as  comfort  for  his  soul. 

"Love  and  light,"  he  writes,  *'such  was  the  eternal  cry 
from  St.  Augustine's  lips  and  heart.  Love  for  an  object 
so  high  and  so  sublime,  that  the  intellect  could  never 
weary  in  the  contemplation  of  its  transcendent  excellence  — 
love  for  an  object  so  perfect,  that  the  conscience  should 
never  scruple  its  warmest  attachment  —  love  so  strong 
that  every  pulse  of  the  heart  should   cling  to  the  loved 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  97 

object,  so  that  death  itself  could  not  break,  nor  time  dimin- 
ish, the  strength  of  its  affection  —  love  so  vast  that  the 
soul  should  ever  wander  through  its  happy  realms  without 
exhaustion,  and  there  find  its  eternal  rest  and  fruition.'* 

In  one  of  his  wanderings  he  had  found  an  old  tome  entitled 
"  Mensis  Augustinianus  sive  Meditationes  in  Regulam  Divi 
Aurelii  Augustini,  Hipponensis  Episcopi  et  Ecclesiae  Doc- 
toris  tximii,  ex  Sacra  Scriptura,  Sanctis  Patribus,  Asceseos 
Magistris,  et  probatissimis  Auctoribus  collectae  et  distrihutae 
in  singulos  Mensis  dies.  Una  cum  Regula  a  Gelasio  di 
Cilia.  Cum  facultate  et  licentia  Superiorum.  Ratisbonae. 
lyij.'^  The  book,  it  appears,  had  never  been  reprinted, 
and  Father  Sheehan  undertook  to  copy  it,  evidently  intend- 
ing it  for  personal  use  as  a  pocket  manual  of  meditation.^ 

Throughout  his  writings  he  repeatedly  speaks  of  the  life 
of  St.  Augustine  as  of  a  source  from  which  the  devout 
soul  may  draw  inspirations  of  holiness  and  divine  wisdom, 
"and  the  student  of  humanity  will  feel  new  interest  in  the 
struggle  of  the  soul,  to  disenthrall  itself  from  the  fierce 
promptings  of  passion  and  the  seductions  of  intellectual 
pride.  For  Augustine  was  a  convert.  From  a  sinner  he 
became  a  Saint,  from  a  doubter  and  a  denier  he  became  a 
behever  and  teacher." 

The  simultaneous  appearance  about  this  time  of  several 
works  dealing  with  the  life  and  doctrine  of  the  Saint  had 
given  a  fresh  interest  to  the  subject  among  ecclesiastical 
students;  and  naturally  our  young  curate  at  Queenstown 
took  part  in  the  defense  of  the  great  champion  of  Catholic 
orthodoxy,  when  that  orthodoxy  was  being  distorted  into 
a  support  for  Protestantism.  At  Cambridge  University 
the  Hulsean  Lectures  had  made  the  topic  popular,  while 
in  the  meantime  the  London  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Christian  Knowledge  had  issued  the  volume  in  its  series 
which  treats  of  St.  Augustine.  In  America  the  subject 
had  been  taken  up  by  Professor  Philip  Schaff,  who  sought 
to  trace  a  relationship  between  the  Bishop  of  Hippo  and 
the  sixteenth-century   reformers;    and   Dr.    Field   Spalding 

^  The  manuscript  in  his  neat  handwriting  is  not  completed. 


98  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  I 

of  Boston  had  made  a  close  analysis  of  the  great  Church 
Father's  teaching,  with  a  view  apparently  of  emphasizing 
the  latter's  independence  of  Roman  authority. 

Father  Sheehan  subjects  these  and  some  other  pub- 
lications of  a  kindred  nature  to  a  critical  examination, 
and  points  out  that  the  Protestant  contention  is  far  re- 
moved from  a  true  interpretation  of  the  Saint's  mind. 
In  Dr.  Spalding's  volume  he  recognizes  more  than  ordinary 
sincerity,  besides  a  deep  knowledge  of  the  Patristic  writings 
and  an  adherence  to  the  canons  of  literary  as  well  as  his- 
torical criticism.  These  qualities  were  wholly  missing  in 
the  Protestant  writers  mentioned  above.  The  article 
became  the  occasion  of  a  correspondence  with  Dr.  Spalding, 
which  covered  several  years  and  ended  in  the  return  of 
the  latter  to  the  Catholic  Church. 

After  this.  Father  Sheehan's  contributions  to  English 
and  Irish  periodicals  may  be  said  to  have  ceased,  if  we 
except  occasional  papers,  in  the  main  belletristic,  written 
for  the  Irish  Monthly. 

What  he  accomplished  in  other  respects  while  curate 
at  the  Cathedral  at  Queenstown  is  cherished  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  that  parish.  There  are  at  this  day  men,  prominent 
in  the  community,  who  unreservedly  attribute  their  suc- 
cess and  place  of  honor  in  public  life  to  the  encouragement 
and  direction  of  Father  Sheehan.  Glimpses  of  his  min- 
istry, especially  among  the  poor  of  that  cosmopolitan  town, 
may  be  gleaned  from  his  writings.  From  all  parts  of  Ireland 
the  emigrants  gathered  here  to  take  passage  on  one  or  other 
of  the  outgoing  vessels  bound  for  Liverpool,  London,  Bris- 
tol, Plymouth,  and  the  far-off  countries  across  the  Atlantic. 

For  one  who  loved  his  people  with  an  anxiety  for  their 
future  welfare,  seeking  to  safeguard  their  faith  and  attach- 
ment to  the  old  sod,  there  were  a  thousand  opportunities 
day  after  day  for  the  exercise  of  zeal  not  only  in  the  church 
but  at  the  wharves  and  in  the  hovels  that  neighbored  them. 
Years  afterwards  Father  Sheehan  had  opportunity  to  revisit 
the  scenes  of  his  early  labors  whenever  called  to  attend  the 
Conferences  of  the  Cathedral  Chapter,  as  Canon.     We  are 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  99 

told  by  one  who  regularly  met  him  on  these  occasions  that, 
though  reticent  about  his  own  doings,  he  seemed  to  be 
familiar  with  every  note  of  the  town's  history.  His  shy, 
reserved  manner  gave  no  indication  that  he  could  ever 
have  been  popular  among  the  humbler  class  of  the  parish- 
ioners; "yet  when  he  died  all  the  older  generations  had 
instances  to  relate  of  his  unostentatious  kindness,  especially 
to  the  poor  and  the  sick." 

During  his  stay  at  Queenstown,  which  covered  nearly 
eight  years,  he  wrote  a  number  of  stories  for  children, 
afterward  published  by  the  Catholic  Truth  Society  of 
Ireland.  Occasionally  he  was  induced  to  lecture  at  Cork, 
Limerick,  and  other  towns  in  the  South  of  Ireland,  where 
his  fine  gifts  of  expression  had  become  known. 

But  the  strain  of  overwork  soon  told  upon  his  constitu- 
tion. In  1888  he  was  obliged  to  desist  from  all  pastoral 
work.  The  physician  advised  him  to  rest  for  a  while  at 
GlengariflP.  Here  and  at  Youghal,  whither  he  went  later, 
he  did  a  good  deal  of  reading  and  some  writing  of  a  frag- 
mentary character. 

On  his  recovery  the  Bishop  deemed  it  advisable  to  send 
him  back  to  the  country,  and  accordingly  appointed  him 
once  more  to  his  native  town,  Mallow.  Here  he  acted  as 
senior  curate,  to  whom  was  also  assigned  the  chaplaincy 
of  the  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  Some  changes 
had  taken  place  since  his  former  residence  at  Mallow. 
Archdeacon  O'Regan,  the  old  pastor,  had  been  replaced 
by  Canon  Wigmore,  Vicar  Forane.  There  were  two  junior 
curates.  If  the  parishioners  recalled  Father  Sheehan's 
Enghsh  ways,  they  also  remembered  his  Irish  heart  and  his 
goodness  to  the  sick  and  the  poor.  The  little  boys  and 
girls  of  the  school,  on  whom  he  had  once  set  his  hopes  of 
carrying  out  his  ideals  after  his  return  from  England,  had 
grown  to  be  young  men  and  women.  Resuming  the  plans 
he  had  formed  for  their  welfare,  he  now  began  to  direct 
his  chief  efforts  toward  their  intellectual  and  spiritual 
development  by  means  of  social  organization.  He  estab- 
lished reading  circles  and  clubs.    Through  lectures,  libraries, 


lOO  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

and  the  shaping  and  controlHng  of  their  amusements,  he 
stirred  the  townsfolk  to  an  appreciation  of  the  higher  and 
better  things  he  put  before  them.  This  activity  is  grate- 
fully remembered  by  the  people  of  Mallow,  though  it  is 
many  years  since  Father  Sheehan  labored  among  them. 

It  was  at  this  period  also  that  he  developed  a  new  scheme 
of  writing.  He  came  to  realize  that,  if  he  could  clothe 
his  ideals  in  the  form  of  short  stories  or  of  a  novel  that  would 
appeal  to  the  sense  of  popular  curiosity,  it  might  inaugu- 
rate an  apostolate  of  the  Irish  press,  more  attractive  and 
effective  than  the  didactic  methods  usually  adopted  for 
improving  mind  and  heart.  Work  of  this  sort  would  more- 
over give  the  writer  an  opportunity  of  showing  forth  the 
weakness  of  the  old  system  by  applying  to  it  humorous 
criticism  and  corrective  illustrations.  Cervantes  and  Father 
de  Isla  had  done  this  in  one  way;  Dickens  and  Mark  Twain 
in  another.  They  got  a  wide  hearing.  Why  not  he  with 
a  subject  much  more  vital  than  theirs?  What  he  had 
written  hitherto,  accepted  by  the  editors  merely  for  its 
literary  and  ethical  value,  had  hardly  been  noticed.  That 
might  have  been  due  in  part  to  the  modesty  which  failed 
to  employ  the  art  of  self-advertising.  But  there  must  have 
been  other  causes  also.  At  any  rate,  it  was  evident  that  the 
proper  stimulus  was  wanting  to  make  his  proposals  for 
improvement  popular.  With  these  thoughts  in  mind  he 
began  gathering  material,  trusting  that  it  might  mature 
to  some  purpose.  The  effort  was  to  take  definite  shape  in 
Geoffrey  Austin  and  its  sequel. 

Meanwhile,  in  1893,  his  fatherly  friend  and  protector, 
the  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  Dr.  John  McCarthy,  had  been  called 
to  his  reward.  He  had  governed  the  diocese  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  and  during  that  time  had  proved  himself  a 
saintly  and  zealous  father  to  his  flock.  He  had  nearly  com- 
pleted the  main  building  of  the  beautiful  Cathedral  begun 
by  his  predecessor,  and  in  this  he  had  been  greatly  helped 
by  Father  Sheehan  during  the  eight  years  of  the  latter's 
incumbency  at  Queenstown.  Bishop  McCarthy  was  an 
able  writer  and  speaker,  as  well  as  an  organizer  and  pubHc- 


Chap.  VI  ]        CALLED  TO  QUEENSTOWN  loi 

spirited  defender  of  his  people's  interests.  He  had  been 
ill  a  few  days.  On  Friday  he  took  to  his  bed,  and  died  on 
the  following  day,  December  9,  1893.  His  successor  was  not 
installed  until  the  autumn  of  1894. 

In  the  fall  of  1893  Aubrey  de  Vere,  third  son  of  Sir  Aubrey, 
the  elder  Irish  poet,  published  his  volume  Mediaeval  Rec- 
ords and  Sonnets.  The  book  at  once  attracted  attention, 
and  became  the  subject  of  an  extended  review  by  Father 
Sheehan,  printed  in  the  Irish  Monthly  for  March,  1894. 
The  Anglo-Irish  bard  had  successfully  transposed  into  the 
melody  of  verse  the  theme  of  mediaeval  CathoHc  chivalry, 
just  as  Mrs.  Jameson  had  done  in  prose.  The  appeal,  so 
rich  in  its  power  of  suggestion,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
sweetly  musical,  was  meant  for  readers  who  knew  and  could 
appreciate  the  inner  history  of  the  Church  as  she  speaks 
through  her  liturgy.  The  absence  of  religious  misconcep- 
tion, or  of  any  lyric  trick  catering  to  the  commonplace, 
gave  a  peculiar  charm  to  Aubrey  de  Vere's  poetry.  The 
nicely  balanced  phrase  was  but  the  echo  of  nature's  own 
rhythm,  with  whose  measured  manifestations  the  poet 
dealt.     Father  Sheehan  said  so  in  his  criticism. 

Mr.  de  Vere  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  analysis  and  he 
expressed  his  appreciation  to  the  editor  of  the  Irish  Monthly. 

Carragh  Chase,  Adare,  Co.  Limerick. 
March  lo,  1894. 

My  dear  Father  Russell, 

Pray  accept  my  best  thanks  for  having  given  a  place  in  the 
"Irish  Monthly,"  to  that  singularly  beautiful  paper  on  my  Mediae- 
val Records.  It  is  most  friendly  and  indeed  only  too  flattering. 
That  one  who  writes  so  well  himself,  should  think  so  well  of  what 
I  have  written,  is  of  course  very  gratifying  to  me,  and  very 
encouraging  also,  considering  how  few  seem  to  like  my  poetry,  the 
slow  circulation  of  which  my  Publishers  complain  of  much,  af- 
firming, as  all  my  friends  do,  that  this  proceeds  mainly  from  its 
almost  always  taking  as  its  theme  either  Ireland  or  the  Catholic 
Belgium.  When  I  made  my  submission  to  Holy  Church  I  very 
deliberately  selected  those  two  themes  for  my  future  poetry, 
though  with  a  perfect  knowledge  that  they  must  be  unpopular; 
consequently  I  am  not  entitled  to  complain.     If  Father  Sheehan's 


102  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  I 

friendly  prophecy  at  the  end  of  his  paper,  shall  one  day  be  ful- 
filled, it  will  be  more  than  I  deserve,  though  I  certainly  do  deserve 
the  friendly  mention  he  makes  of  my  Poetry  as  having  escaped  the 
prevailing  or  at  least  too  frequent  demerit  of  being  introverted 
and  egotistical.  I  am  also  much  pleased  at  his  liking  that  poem 
on  St.  Francis,  and  wishing  me  to  translate  the  rest  of  the  "Fio- 
retti."  Were  I  young  I  might  try  to  do  so.  In  the  meantime 
it  is  a  curious  thing  that  there  is  just  now  a  person  who  thinks,  I 
am  glad  to  know,  of  translating  my  "Legends  of  St.  Patrick," 
or  some  of  them,  into  prose,  and  out  of  verse,  as  being  thus  made 
more  likely  to  interest  our  poorer  fellow  countrymen,  for  whose 
benefit  chiefly  they  were  written.  He  may  be  quite  right  in  thinking 
that  they  would  thus  have  a  better  chance  of  learning  more  than 
they  now  do  respecting  their  great  Patron,  the  most  apostolic  man, 
I  think,  of  all  the  saints;  for  when  Messrs.  Cassell  included  that 
book  in  their  "National  Library,"  and  published  it  for  six  pence  in 
cloth  boards  and  three  pence  in  paper  covers,  out  of  more  than 
10,000  copies  sold  only  about  100  were  sold  in  Ireland.  But  one 
can  well  imagine  Blank  Verse,  to  one  accustomed  to  associate 
Poetry  with  Rhyme,  appeared  only  a  sort  of  Prose  bewitched. 

I  am  especially  pleased  at  the  terms  in  which  Father  Sheehan 
speaks  of  the  "Higher  Purgatory,"  and  the  "Copernicus,"  the 
best,  or  least  imperfect  poems  I  believe  in  the  Vol.  The  "Higher 
Purgatory"  may  be  a  relief  to  some  excellent  persons  who  are  so 
accustomed  to  what  St.  Catherine  must  have  regarded  as  a  one- 
sided view  of  Purgatory,  that  the  expectation  of  it  must  have 
lain  like  a  perpetual  night-mare  on  their  minds.  I  intended  that 
Poem  and  "Copernicus"  to  embody  a  good  deal  of  Catholic  Phi- 
losophy, and  the  latter  everywhere  to  imply  the  sublime  idea  of 
Leotus  that  the  Incarnation  was  for  the  total  universe,  both 
material  and  angelic,  as  well  as  for  the  Redemption  of  man  from 
fire(?).  But  for  that  idea  I  should  never  have  written  the  "May 
Carols"  which  admitted  of  a  fuller  expression  of  that  conception. 

Will  you  give  Father  Sheehan  my  best  thanks  for  his  Essay, 
which  is  full  of  thoughts  truly  Philosophical  on  Art,  expressed  in 
very  eloquent  language  —  please  also  to  send  me  his  address  as 
I  should  like  to  forward  my  Father's  "Mary  Tudor"  and 
"Sonnets"   to   him   unless   he   has   them    already. 

Believe  me, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Aubrey  de  Vere. 


PART  II 

WHEREIN    IS    SEEN     SOMETHING    OF    FATHER    SHEEHAn's 

LITERARY   WORK THE    MESSAGE    AND     CHARACTER    OF 

HIS      NOVELS  HIS       EFFORTS      IN      EDUCATIONAL     AND 

POLITICAL     FIELDS,     AND     LITERARY     CORRESPONDENCE 


PARISH    PRIEST    OF  DONERAILE 

IN  August,  1894,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Joachim,  Dr. 
Robert  Browne,  president  of  Maynooth  College, 
was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Cloyne.  The  new  Ordi- 
nary was  no  stranger  to  the  diocese,  in  which  he  was  born. 
He  had  been  a  student  at  St.  Colman's,  Fermoy;  and  sub- 
sequently professor  in  the  same  institution.  During  the 
last  twenty  years  he  had  held  the  offices  successively  of 
Dean,  Vice-President,  and  President  of  Maynooth  Col- 
lege. If  his  position  gave  him  little  opportunity  of  meeting 
Father  Sheehan,  who  had  left  Maynooth  the  year  before 
Dr.  Browne  entered  on  his  term  as  Dean,  it  may  neverthe- 
less be  presumed  that  he  was  famihar  with  the  young  priest's 
early  career,  and  knew  his  talent,  zeal,  and  administrative 
ability.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that,  when  the  parish 
of  Doneraile  became  vacant,  and  the  Bishop  was  obliged 
to  cast  about  for  a  suitable  candidate  to  fill  the  place, 
his  thoughts  should  have  turned  toward  the  Mallow 
chaplain.  The  latter  was  not  actually  in  line  for  promotion 
to  the  pastorate.  There  were  others  who  by  reason  of 
seniority  and  pastoral  quahfications  might  set  up  the 
claim  of  a  prior  right.  But  the  Doneraile  parish  was  some- 
what encumbered,  and  there  was  no  likelihood,  as  the  Bishop 
probably  foresaw,  of  serious  competition  for  the  place. 
Accordingly  Father  Sheehan  was  called  to  the  dignity  of 
Parish  Priest  of  Doneraile,  and  assumed  charge  on  July  4, 
1895. 

Some  passages  in  My  New  Curate  aptly  suggest  what 
were  his  feelings  on  receiving  the  appointment. 

It  happened  in  this  wise.  The  Bishop,  the  old  man,  sent  for 
me  and  said  with  what  I  would  call  a  tone  of  pity  or  contempt  — 
but  he  was  incapable  of  either,  for  he  was  the  essence  of  charity 

105 


io6  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [  Part  II 

and  sincerity  —  "Father  Dan,  you  are  a  bit  of  a  litterateur,  I 
understand;  Kilronan  is  vacant.  You'll  have  plenty  of  time  for 
poetizing  and  dreaming  there.     What  do  you  say  to  it.?" 

I  put  on  a  httle  dignity;  and  though  my  heart  was  beating 
with  delight  I  quietly  thanked  his  Lordship.  But  when  I  had 
passed  beyond  the  reach  of  episcopal  vision,  which  is  far  stretch- 
ing enough,  I  spun  my  hat  in  the  air,  and  shouted  like  a  schoolboy: 
Hurrah! 

You  wonder  at  my  ecstasies.  Listen.  I  was  a  dreamer; 
and  the  dreams  of  my  life,  when  I  was  shut  up  in  musty  towns 
where  the  atmosphere  was  redolent  of  drink,  and  you  heard  noth- 
ing but  scandal,  and  saw  nothing  but  sin  —  the  dream  of  my  life 
was  a  home  by  the  sea,  with  its  purity  and  freedom,  and  its  in- 
finite expanse,  telling  me  of  God.  For  from  the  time  I  was  a 
child  I  used  to  pray  that  some  day  when  my  hfe's  work  should  be 
nearly  done,  and  I  had  put  in  my  years  of  honest  labour  in  the 
dusty  streets,  I  might  spend  my  declining  years  in  the  peace  of  a 
seaside  village,  and  go  down  to  my  grave,  washed  free  from  the 
contaminations  of  Hfe  in  the  daily  watching  and  loving  of  those 
"Moving  waters  at  their  priestlike  task 
Of  cold  ablution  round  earth's  human  shores.'* 

He  tells  how^,  on  returning  home,  he  met  some  of  his 
young  clerical  friends  who  had  already  heard  of  his  ex- 
pected promotion.     They  teased  him: 

*'You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  have  accepted  that  awful 
place!"  said  one. 

"You'll  have  nothing  but  fish  to  eat,"  said  another;  "the 
butcher's  van  goes  there  but  once  a  week." 

"And  no  society  but  fishermen,"  said  a  third.  "And  they  speak 
nothing  but  Irish;  and  you  know  you  can't  bless  yourself  in  Irish." 

"Well,"  I  replied,  "my  Job's  comforters,  I've  accepted  Kil- 
ronan, and  I  am  going  there.  If  all  things  go  well,  and  you  are 
good  boys,  I  may  ask  for  some  of  you  as  curate  — " 

"You'll  be  glad  enough  to  get  a  curacy  yourself  in  six  months," 
they  shouted  in  chorus. 

And  so  I  came  to  Kilronan,  and  here  I  have  been  since.^ 

He  gives  also  a  glimpse  of  his  ideals  of  reform,  and  though 
the  scenes  he  depicts  are  not  those  of  the  little  town  of  the 

^  A  Retrospect,  p.  14. 


Chap.  I  ]      PARISH   PRIEST  OF  DONERAILE  107 

Ballyhoura  hills  where  he  actually  worked  out  his  aspira- 
tions as  a  parish  priest,  yet  the  underlying  thought  is  that 
of  his  pastoral  visions  —  some  of  which  found  their  fulfil- 
ment in  Doneraile.     He  writes: 

What  glorious  resolutions  I  made  the  first  months  of  my 
residence  here  .  .  .  Alas!  circumstances  are  too  much  for  us  all, 
and  here  I  am  .  .  .  poor  old  Daddy  Dan,  with  no  great  earthly 
troubles,  indeed,  and  some  few.  consolations  —  my  breviary  and 
the  grand  psalms  of  hope  —  my  daily  Mass  and  its  hidden  and 
unutterable  sweetness  —  the  love  of  the  little  children  and  their 
daily  smiles  —  the  prayers  of  my  old  women,  and,  I  think,  the 
reverence  of  the  men  .  ,  . 

Then  he  compares  his  ideals  with  the  little  he  had  been 
able  actually  to  accomplish  after  years  of  toil,  and  the 
sting  of  disappointment: 

I  suppose  it  was  all  my  own  fault.  I  remember  what  magnifi- 
cent ideas  I  had.  I  would  build  factories,  I  would  ferr  the  streets, 
I  would  establish  a  fishing  station  and  make  Kilronan  the  favorite 
bathing  resort  on  the  western  coast.  I  would  write  books  and 
be,  all  round,  a  model  of  push,  energy  and  enterprise.  And  I 
did  try.i 

The  picture  he  has  here  drawn  of  the  parish  is  that  of 
a  seacoast  town,  apparently  Kilkee.  There  he  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  spending  a  brief  annual  summer  vacation. 
It  is  a  place  where  one  might  expect  to  meet  the  old  asso- 
ciates of  his  Maynooth  days;  but  the  main  attraction  had 
been  the  opportunities  which  the  coast  afforded  for  long 
rambles  along  the  wild  and  richly  varied  western  stretches 
of  the  Atlantic,  such  as  he  graphically  describes  them  in 
various  passages  in  his  later  books. 

If  Doneraile  was  somewhat  different  from  all  this  in  its 
outer  aspects,  it  offered,  besides  its  picturesque  scenery 
of  river  and  mountain,  abundance  of  that  attractive  feature 
of  Irish  hfe  and  character  which  was  soon  to  become  the 
source  of  a  new  inspiration  in  his  work  for  souls. 

Doneraile  is   a  small  town  in  the  County  Cork.     It  is 

1  Ibid.,  p.  19. 


io8  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

beautifully  situated  at  the  base  of  a  western  spur  of  the 
Galtee  Mountains.  This  range  of  hills  forms,  as  it  were, 
a  meeting  place  for  the  four  counties  of  Limerick,  Tipper- 
ary,  Waterford,  and  Cork.  A  little  stream,  the  Awbeg, 
a  branch  of  the  Blackwater,  passes  Doneraile  and,  above 
it,  separates  into  small  pools  and  streamlets  among  rocky 
and  shady  declines,  giving  the  country  round  about  a 
pleasant,  idyUic  aspect.  The  vegetation  is  rich  and  abun- 
dant, imparting  to  the  rolling  country  an  alluring  beauty, 
to  which  old  castle  ruins  add  an  air  of  romance.  The 
poet  Spenser  has  made  the  district  famous  in  his  Faerie 
^ueen  (Book  IV,  canto  xi),  though  modern  archaeologists 
are  not  agreed  that  the  stream 

"Giveth  name  unto  that  ancient  cittie 
Which  Kilnemulla  clepped  is  of  old." 

But  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  first  great  Elizabethan  poet 
lived  at  Kilcoman  castle,  near  by,  and  sang  his  musical 
epics  to  the  accompaniment  of 

"Strong  Alio  tombling  from  Slewlogher  Steep, 
And  Mulla  mine  whose  waves  I  whilom  taught  to  weep." 

Father  Sheehan  took  residence  in  the  parish  during  mid- 
summer of  1895.  If  he  felt  grateful  that  henceforth  he 
was  to  have  a  free  field  for  his  pastoral  activity,  he  experi- 
enced still  more  satisfaction,  at  least  for  the  moment,  at 
being  in  a  position  to  carry  out  the  scheme  which  had 
occupied  him  for  some  time  past  at  Mallow,  namely  of 
writing  the  book  that  would  explain  his  new  mode  of 
education.  The  idea  of  being  an  author  has  its  charms  at 
all  times.  It  brings  with  it  the  conscious  power  of  creat- 
ing; the  suggestion  that  we  are  capable  of  influencing 
minds  far  beyond  the  hmits  of  our  immediate  surround- 
ings; it  conjures  up  visions  of  fame  and  immortality,  and 
all  that  the  imagination  can  picture  of  true  greatness  and 
lasting  success.  Not  that  Father  Sheehan  meant  to  ex- 
change his  pastoral  office  and  its  glories  for  the  occupations 
and    emoluments  of  "a  votary  of  the  desk,  —  a  notched 


Chap.  I  ]      PARISH   PRIEST  OF   DONERAILE  109 

and  cropped  scrivener,  one  that  sucks  his  sustenance,  as 
certain  sick  people  are  said  to  do  —  through  a  quill."  On 
the  contrary,  he  meant  to  use  his  pen  as  an  adjunct  to  his 
opportunities  as  a  teacher  of  that  divine  truth  which  his 
apostolic  and  pastoral  mission  called  him  to  preach.  He 
felt  that  in  this  way  his  voice  might  reach  to  every  county 
of  his  native  land. 

There  had  been  nothing  to  prevent  him  as  curate  from 
appearing  in  print  unless  it  was  the  difficulty  of  finding  a 
publisher  wiUing  to  take  the  risks.  But  he  could  not  have 
spoken  with  the  same  freedom  as  now  that  he  was  pastor; 
he  would  have  had  to  consider  the  feelings  if  not  the  opin- 
ions of  his  rector  and  associates.  Even  if  his  book  were 
published  anonymously,  the  fact  could  hardly  be  kept  a 
secret  in  the  parish;  and  if  he  said  anything  to  displease 
his  comrades  in  arms,  it  might  react  disagreeably  upon 
himself. 

But  now,  added  to  the  dignity  of  a  parish  priest,  which 
fact  was  likely  to  recommend  him  to  the  sellers  of  books, 
he  enjoyed  the  freedom  to  act  without  having  to  consult 
others;  freedom  from  their  criticism,  their  power  to  dis- 
suade or  to  thwart  any  enterprise  that  could  make  him  a 
true  evangelist  to  his  people  and  nation.  He  was  inde- 
pendent in  a  manner  even  of  the  Bishop.  The  worst  which 
that  august  dignitary  could  do  was  "send  him  a  curate 
who  might  break  his  heart." 


II 

HIS    FIRST    BOOK 

THE  book  of  which  the  material  was  all  ready  was 
Geoffrey  Austin.  Doneraile  was  to  be  the  place  of 
Geoffrey's  birth. 
As  the  reader  will  doubtless  recall,  Father  Sheehan  had, 
during  the  years  of  his  curacy  at  Queenstown,  as  also  later 
at  Mallow,  found  special  delight  in  spurring  on  the  young 
men  of  the  parish  to  higher  efforts  and  ambitions.  His 
aim  had  been  to  withdraw  them  from  attractions  that 
divided  their  appreciation  of  those  better  things  which 
were  awaiting  them  with  the  dawn  of  the  newly  promised 
emancipation.  He  would  prepare  them  definitely  for  the 
responsibihties  which  the  anticipated  independence  of 
Ireland  was  to  bring  at  least  to  some  of  them.  He  meant 
to  defend  his  countrymen  against  the  demagogues  who  saw 
in  the  heralded  freedom  only  opportunities  to  satisfy  their 
greed  and  selfish  ambition.  Patriotic  Irishmen  had  been 
hitherto  fed  upon  hopes;  they  had  made  sacrifices;  they 
had  followed  leaders  in  whose  sincerity  they  placed 
absolute  confidence.  Time  and  again  they  had  found 
themselves  deceived  and  defeated  through  lack  of  cau- 
tion or  forethought,  or  of  union  among  the  heads  of 
their  parties. 

Now,  with  the  hopes  based  not  only  on  the  justice  of 
Ireland's  cause  and  an  ardent  patriotism,  but  on  the  de- 
termination of  a  strong  ParHamentary  party  that  could 
defeat  the  Unionists,  and  hold  in  check  the  obstruction- 
ists, the  means  of  eventually  wresting  from  the  present 
government  the  consent  to  Home  Rule  seemed  clear.  If 
now  the  young  men  of  Ireland  were  to  take  a  successful 
hand  in  the  affairs  of  their  reborn  nation  they  needed  more 


Chap.  II]  HIS   FIRST   BOOK  in 

than  the  material  strength  of  numbers  and  an  ardent 
patriotism.  One  reason  why  hitherto  their  aspirations  had 
been  frustrated  was  their  lack,  in  the  past,  of  opportunities 
for  higher  or  even  ordinary  education.  Whilst  nominally 
the  means  for  elementary  training  were  not  being  denied 
them,  the  actual  conditions  rendered  it  impossible  for  the 
poor  to  avail  themselves  of  it. 

The  prospects  of  Emancipation  were  thus  beset  with 
dangers  that  lurked  in  an  unpreparedness  to  make  use  of 
the  newly  acquired  freedom  that  would  reconstitute  the 
nation. 

There  were  other  dangers.  The  youth  of  Ireland  were 
sure  to  be  hampered  in  their  struggle  for  advancement  by 
traditions  that  had  crystallized  in  the  popular  mind.  Many 
of  the  intellectual  leaders,  however  high-minded  and  ener- 
getic, were  wedded  to  methods  that  threatened  to  leave 
the  younger  generation  behind  in  the  struggle  for  what 
was  conducive  to  true  moral  and  civic  welfare.  In  Father 
Sheehan's  estimate  it  was  essential  that  the  Catholic  priest- 
hood should  take  a  definite  part  in  and  find  new  ways  to 
strengthen  the  Catholic  conscience  of  the  nation  as  a  de- 
fense against  the  schemes  of  politicians  who  cared  little 
or  nothing  for  the  ancient  glory  of  Ireland.  The  course 
to  be  adopted,  to  elevate  the  consciousness  of  the  race  to 
the  realization  of  their  high  destiny,  was,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out,  the  systematic  leavening,  through  re- 
ligious instruction,  of  all  the  educational  forces  in  the 
country.  The  clergy  were  to  emphasize  religion  as  a  re- 
quirement of  efficiency  in  connection  with  a  high  standard 
of  intellectual  culture  in  the  schools  and  colleges.  Thus 
an  effectual  barrier  would  be  placed  against  the  strong 
materiaHstic  tendency  which,  in  the  guise  of  an  advanced 
science,  was  beginning  to  dominate  the  schools. 

Moreover,  he  saw  that  the  new  generation  was  being 
withdrawn  to  foreign  countries,  especially  America.  The 
Irish  youth  was  suffering  from  the  practical  contamina- 
tion of  an  absorbing  passion  for  wealth  under  the  plea  of 
improved   industrial   conditions.     Thence   grew   the   desire 


112  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

to  leave  the  home  country,  and  the  striving  after  those 
purely  secular  ambitions  and  comforts  of  life  which  must 
produce  not  only  a  weakening  of  the  old  faith,  but  the 
eventual  destruction  of  native  simplicity,  domestic  affec- 
tion, and  attachment  to  the  motherland.  Religion,  om- 
bined  with  love  of  country,  had  been  the  pride  of  the  Irish 
race  for  centuries.  It  had  made  the  people  strong,  this 
clinging  to  their  homesteads  and  native  soil,  however  poor. 
The  old  sod,  with  its  memories  of  hardship,  had  become 
a  sacred  thing  by  the  very  fact  that  it  kept  alive  the  hope 
of  better  times.  And  now  that  the  dawn  of  these  happier 
days  was  breaking,  the  country  was  being  depopulated 
and  deprived  of  its  hardy  and  simple  strength.  These  re- 
flections made  Father  Sheehan  anxious  to  keep  his  people 
from  emigrating;  and  he  did  everything  in  his  power  to 
discourage  those  over  whom  he  exercised  influence  from 
leaving  home.  He  impressed  on  them  the  sentiment  that 
Ireland  was  the  home  of  her  children's  faith,  and  to  Ire- 
land they  were  bound  in  loyalty  to  cling.  Those  who  had 
gone,  he  regarded  as  exiles,  to  be  pitied.  To  a  lady  from 
Limerick  who  had  made  her  home  in  America  and  who 
was  visiting  Kilkee,  he  gave,  on  her  bidding  him  farewell, 
the  following  touching  lines,  expressive  of  his  feeling  on 
the  subject: 

"Child  whom  the  Fates  have  cast  afar 
—  Thine  Irish  faith  thy  guiding  star  — 
An  exile;   but  with  all  the  rights 
That  bind  thee  to  thy  motherland, 
Whose  loveliness,  austere  but  grand. 
Her  children's  loyalty  requites  — 

Take  these  few  lines  from  one  whose  worth 

Is  but  his  pride  of  Irish  birth. 

His  loyalty  to  faith  and  race; 

Who  bids  thee  in  thy  life  Godspeed; 

In  kindly  thought  and  noble  deed, 

And  at  the  last  the  glorious  meed, 

The  Vision  —  face  to  face." 


Chap.  II]  HIS   FIRST   BOOK  113 

Father  Sheehan  gave  vent  to  a  similar  feeling  in  another 
form  on  an  occasion  when  the  writer  discussed  with  him 
the  absence  of  agricultural  industry  and  of  efforts,  appar- 
ently, to  cultivate  the  large  tracts  left  to  pasture  for  grazing 
sheep.  With  no  little  spirit  he  said,  "Do  you  want  to  know 
the  reason  why  our  fields  are  not  tilled .?  Why,  you  Ameri- 
cans who  speak  of  the  indolence  of  our  people  are  your- 
selves the  cause  of  this  lack  of  apparent  thrift.  In  the  first 
place,  you  ship  over  here  grain  and  produce,  selHng  it  to 
our  commission  merchants  at  a  shilhng  a  bushel  less  than 
it  costs  us  to  produce  it,  if  we  consider  the  rental  of  our 
farms.  Next  you  entice  our  young  men  and  girls  by  hold- 
ing out  to  them  the  allurements  of  the  American  dollar. 
They  find  they  can  keep  the  old  people  more  comfortable 
by  leaving  them  and  earning  a  good  income  in  Yankee 
land.  Of  course  they  don't  realize  that  they  are  sacri- 
ficing in  many  cases  their  faith  and  the  love  of  old  Ireland, 
and  all  that  goes  with  our  treasured  traditions.  But  they 
make  money;  and  then  they  come  back  for  a  visit;  to 
show  oflF  their  folly,  and  to  entice  other  young  people  away 
from  our  farms  to  follow  them.  It  is  sad;  but  we  cannot 
help  it." 

He  was  averse  to  the  indiscriminate  adoption  of  American 
standards  of  living;  inasmuch  as  it  meant  a  depreciation, 
and  in  some  cases  a  despising,  of  the  traditions  that  had 
made  Ireland  strong  in  rehgious  conviction,  and  that  had 
kindled  noble  national  aspirations,  despite  the  humiHa- 
tions  heaped  upon  her  for  centuries.  His  purpose  was  to 
prepare  the  youth  for  the  new  crisis,  a  crisis  that  involved 
a  determined  struggle,  —  not  against  the  old  foe  next  door, 
who  was  beginning  to  yield  of  his  own  accord,  but  against 
a  double  enemy  from  within,  the  spirit  of  indifference  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  danger  of  secular  and  commercial 
pride  on  the  other.  He  realized  fully  how  both  of  these 
conditions  threatened  to  destroy  the  deep-rooted  sentiments 
of  religious  devotion  and  unselfish  patriotism  that  had 
distinguished  the  children  of  the  Isle  of  Saints  in  the  past 
above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


114  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

In  order  to  battle  successfully  against  this  dual  foe  it 
was,  as  has  been  said,  necessary  first  of  all  to  warn  the 
educators  themselves.  Father  Sheehan  was  well  aware 
that  he  held  no  special  commission  to  correct  his  brethren, 
least  of  all  the  professors  in  the  colleges,  or  the  members 
of  the  episcopate  and  the  clergy  who  were  responsible  for 
the  guidance  of  the  people.  He  merely  meant  to  speak  as 
one  who  sensed  the  coming  peril;  as  one  who  was  willing 
to  help  in  overcoming  it  by  emphasizing  its  insidiousness. 
There  could  be  no  offense  in  an  honest  effort  to  popularize 
the  best  methods  by  which  to  ward  off  an  imminent  danger. 

It  was  with  this  purpose  that  he  had  studied  the  problem 
and  found  the  material  which  he  gradually  developed  into 
the  form  of  his  story.  In  this  way  Geoffrey  Austin  had  been 
nearly  completed,  and  now  that  he  was  a  pastor,  he  saw 
his  way  free  to  getting  it  published.  It  would  be  only 
a  beginning.  For  here  in  his  country  rectory,  where  the 
charms  of  nature,  the  music  of  the  birds,  and  the  murmur 
of  the  mountain  stream  soothed  his  nerves,  he  would 
continue  to  put  his  inspirations  into  written  periods, 
freighted  with  the  burden  of  an  educational  gospel  that 
should  carry  light  and  joy  to  his  countrymen.  There 
loomed  up,  of  course,  occasional  misgivings.  He  might  meet 
with  disappointment.  The  motto  in  which  he  presents 
this,  his  first  serious  literary  effort,  shows  that  his  state 
of  mind  was  anything  but  blindly  buoyant.  It  is  taken 
from  Newman's  Idea  of  a  University:  "Alas,  what  are  we 
doing  all  through  life,  both  as  a  necessity  and  duty,  but 
unlearning  the  world's  poetry,  and  attaining  to  its  prose? 
This  is  our  education  as  boys  and  as  men,  in  the  action 
of  life  or  in  the  closet  or  library,  in  our  affections,  in  our 
aims,  in  our  hopes,  in  our  memories." 

He  dedicated  his  book  ''To  the  Catholic  Youth  of  Ireland^ 
in  whose  future  our  highest  interests  are  involved.''  The  in- 
scription reveals  his  aims  and  his  hopes.  That  he  was 
resolved  to  continue  the  subject,  to  carry  on  the  battle  in 
behalf  of  Cathohc  education  to  the  very  end  by  means  of 
his  pen,  is  evident  from  the  words  that  follow  the  dedica- 


Chap.  II]  HIS   FIRST   BOOK  115 

tion:  "These  few  pages  —  a  prelude  to  deeper  and  diviner 
things,"  and  from  the  closing  sentence  of  the  volume: 
"The  End  (is  not  yet)." 

Before  looking  about  for  a  pubHsher  Father  Sheehan 
deemed  it  advisable  to  submit  his  manuscript  to  the 
judgment  of  Matthew  Russell,  S.J.,  who  had  hitherto  en- 
couraged his  literary  efforts,  not  only  by  publishing  occa- 
sional verses  and  short  stories  from  his  pen,  but  by  putting 
him  in  communication  with  other  literary  people.  Among 
those  whose  attention  had  been  attracted  to  the  fine  thought 
and  literary  finish  of  the  verses  with  the  initials  signed 
P.A.S.,  was  Mother  Austin,  superior  of  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy  in  Alabama,  America.  As  the  author  of  a  Life  of 
Mother  Mary  Katherine  McAuley,  and  a  number  of  his- 
torical papers  in  English  and  American  magazines,  she 
enjoyed  the  reputation  of  possessing  discrimination  in 
literary  matters.  In  a  letter  from  Killowen  Father  Russell 
writes  of  her:  ^ 

My  dear  Father  Sheehan, 

Your  American  admirer  (she  has  often  spoken  of  you  in  her 
letters)  is  the  Reverend  Mother  Superior  of  several  convents  of 
Mercy  in  Alabama  and  that  part  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
Her  usual  address  is 

Mrs.  W.  a.  Carroll, 

Convent  of  Mercy,  Selma,  Alabama,  U.S.A. 

She  is  a  clever  woman,  Mother  Austin  —  and  very  kind  besides, 
and  large  minded,  and  fond  of  literature.  She  is  a  great  friend  of 
my  sister,  Mother  Baptist  of  San  Francisco. 

Write  a  nice  letter  to  Mother  Austin  at  once.  It  will  give  her 
great  pleasure. 

I  have  at  last  found  my  copy  of  Francis  Thompson's  Poems. 
Do  you  want  them.?  Certainly  the  current  Edinburgh  Review 
has  raised  my  opinion  of  him. 

I  wonder  who  will  Geoffrey  Austin's  publisher  be.? 

Ever  yours  affectionately, 

Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

^  The  letter  head  is  a  print  of  a  quaint  chapel  building,  under  which  is  written: 
"Where  I  used  to  serve  Mass  fifty  years  ago.     M.R." 


ii6  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Father  Russell  approved  of  Geoffrey  Austin.  But  who 
was  to  pubHsh  it?  There  were  a  number  of  respectable 
Catholic  firms  in  Dublin  that  might  be  disposed  to  take 
up  the  manuscript.  Eventually  the  Messrs.  M.  H.  Gill 
and  Son  undertook  the  pubhcation,  and  the  volume  ap- 
peared before  the  end  of  1895. 

While  awaiting  the  public  verdict  upon  his  literary  ven- 
ture, Father  Sheehan  labored  assiduously  in  the  improve- 
ment of  his  parish.  His  people  were  for  the  most  part 
farming  tenants.  Amid  the  agrarian  troubles  and  the  gen- 
eral political  discontent  he  found  it  necessary  to  familiarize 
himself  with  the  economic  and  domestic  conditions  of  his 
people  in  order  to  act  as  intermediary  and  frequently  as 
peacemaker.  For  this  purpose  he  had  to  visit  the  homes 
of  the  farmers,  attend  their  meetings,  and  confer  with  the 
more  influential  men  of  the  district.  There  was  a  con- 
siderable number  of  children  in  the  several  schools  of  the 
parish  which  also  claimed  his  immediate  care.  Altogether 
he  found  a  good  deal  of  work  at  his  hand;  and,  while  he 
felt  that  he  was  free  to  carry  out  the  schemes  of  reform 
with  which  his  mind  had  been  filled  during  the  years  of  his 
missionary  work  as  curate,  not  a  few  obstacles  presented 
themselves  to  their  immediate  reaHzation. 

Whether  he  had  anticipated  the  failure  of  his  first  book 
or  not,  the  disappointment  came.  For  nearly  two  years 
the  edition  lay  on  the  bookseller's  shelves.  The  critics  at 
home  admitted  the  Hterary  merit  of  the  volume,  but  re- 
sented the  faultfinding  with  a  system  of  Catholic  education 
that  had  been  in  vogue  from  time  immemorial  without  ever 
provoking  adverse  comment.  What  was  good  enough  for 
the  old  people  ought  to  be  good  enough  for  the  young 
generation  who  had  no  experience.  Evidently  the  reviewers 
in  Ireland  restricted  the  survey  of  their  educational  re- 
sponsibilities to  what  had  been  approved  by  the  experience 
of  the  past.  In  England  the  book  was  practically  ignored  — 
perhaps  on  general  principles;  and,  besides,  it  had  the 
handicap  of  anonymity. 

By  way  of  compensation  the  story  gained  some  appre- 


Chap.  II]  HIS  FIRST  BOOK  117 

ciation  abroad.  The  Catholic  World,  of  New  York,  gave 
a  favorable  notice  of  Geoffrey  Austin,  admitting  it  to  be 
the  work  of  a  brilliant  tyro  who  saw  things  in  a  true  light, 
though  he  betrayed  his  youth  by  the  superabundant  wealth 
of  his  imagery  and  vocabulary.  "Were  it  not  for  this 
feature,"  wrote  the  critic,  "we  might  be  tempted  to  think 
that  Geoffrey  Austin  is  the  work  of  a  skilled  and  matured 
literary  man." 

Father  Russell,  writing  from  University  College,  Stephen's 
Green,  Dublin,  calls  his  attention  to  this  critique: 

.  .  .  The  Catholic  World,  the  big  New  York  magazine  of  the 
Paulist  Fathers,  understands  Geoffrey  Austin's  point  of  view 
better  than  your  other  critics.  I  will  send  it,  probably  not  until 
Tuesday. 

If  you  feel  inclined  to  defend  your  novel  in  propria  persona, 
our  columns  are  always  open  to  you. 

In  February  I  supply  the  blank  in  "Sentan  the  Culdee."  It 
may  make  readers  turn  back  to  the  greatest  poem  of  our  whole 
career.     What  about  the  series  thus  brilliantly  begun? 

Ever  yours  affectionately, 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

Other  voices,  here  and  there,  added  their  note  of  praise. 
But  the  result  was  far  from  what  might  have  been  expected, 
considering  the  character  and  purpose  of  the  volume.  Singu- 
larly enough  the  book  found  at  once  a  favorable  response 
in  Germany,  This  was  due  not  so  much  to  an  apprecia- 
tion of  its  literary  excellence  as  rather  to  the  fact  that  the 
author  had  incidentally  struck  a  note  in  accord  with  certain 
pedagogical  prepossessions  in  the  Fatherland.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  fact  that  discussions  had 
been  going  on  in  German  academic  circles  regarding  the 
limitations  of  religious  instruction  in  the  Gymnasia  and 
Universities.  There  had  been  disputes  as  to  the  preferable 
method  of  theological  training;  namely,  whether  it  should 
be  incorporated  in  the  regular  university  courses,  or  in 
separate  seminaries  conducted  according  to  the  principles 
of  the  Council   of  Trent.      Perhaps   Father   Sheehan   had 


ii8  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE    [Part  II 

been  influenced  in  his  opinions  by  a  knowledge  of  these 
facts.  At  all  events,  a  translation  of  the  book  was  an- 
nounced in  Germany  before  the  author's  name  was  actually 
known  to  his  readers,  generally,  at  home. 

Meanwhile  Matthew  Russell  kept  on  urging  the  author 
of  Geoffrey  Austin  to  write.  He  wanted  him  to  write  more 
short  articles,  over  his  full  signature  —  also  to  print  his 
sermons  and  lectures.  Speaking  of  an  address  on  "Opti- 
mism" which  was  subsequently  printed  in  the  Irish  Monthly, 
he  writes: 

You  will  have  no  difficulty  in  putting  together  a  new  Lecture, 
and  it  is  a  good  thing  to  force  you  to  do  so.  Very  many  of  your 
sermons  ought  to  be  transcribed  and  sent  as  articles  to  the  big 
American  Messenger  of  the  Sacred  Heart  (27  West  i6th  Street, 
New  York),  or  The  Catholic  World  (120  West  60th  Street,  New 
York),  or  The  Ave  Maria,  Notre  Dame,  Indiana.  Get  as  much  of 
yourself  into  print  as  you  can  and  as  speedily  as  you  can. 

Encouraged  by  these  and  similar  suggestions,  and  sus- 
tained no  doubt  also  by  the  enthusiasm  begotten  of  con- 
fidence in  his  mission,  he  followed  the  advice  of  his  Dublin 
mentor.  The  intercourse  with  his  parishioners  rather 
added  fuel  to  than  hindered  his  literary  activity.  He  had 
now  reached  that  stage  in  his  command  of  language,  and 
in  the  habit  of  subordinating  his  reflections  and  observa- 
tions, at  which  expression  becomes  not  simply  a  pleasure 
but  a  sort  of  necessity.  As  a  result  the  thoughts  that 
crystallized  within  sought  utterance  either  in  the  pulpit 
or  through  the  pen. 

What  time  he  could  spare  from  his  pastoral  duties  was 
next  devoted  to  the  sequel  of  Geoffrey  Austin.  Probably 
the  doubtful  reception  accorded  to  his  first  book  caused 
him  to  modify  his  theories;  perhaps  it  also  suggested  the 
title  The  Triumph  of  Failure.  What  he  strove  to  demon- 
strate was  that  moral  or  rehgious  training  must  be  the 
groundwork  of  the  intellectual  structure  in  education,  in 
order  to  foster  the  growth  of  character  which  alone  leads 
to  real  success  in  the  struggle  of  life.     Hence  it  was,  he 


Chap.  II]  HIS   FIRST   BOOK  119 

maintained,  the  duty  of  Catholic  educators  not  only  to 
insist  upon  giving  the  first  place  to  Christian  Doctrine  in 
all  our  schools  and  colleges,  but  so  to  leaven  their  classical 
and  scientific  teaching  as  to  make  the  secular  branches  of 
learning  contribute  to  the  exposition  of  the  Christian 
rehgion.  In  other  words,  he  wished  to  show  that  the  true 
value  of  such  studies  as  that  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
classics  lies  in  making  them  illustrate  the  worth  of  7iatural 
religion  as  a  basis  of  revealed  truth.  Paganism,  or  what- 
ever is  admirable  in  its  laws,  its  science,  and  art,  must  be 
regarded  simply  as  material  for  emphasizing  the  excellence 
of  Christianity.  Geoffrey  Austin's  entire  career  was  meant 
to  be  an  illustration  of  the  utter  helplessness,  spiritually, 
of  a  youth  issuing  from  college  and  facing  the  practical 
problems  of  life,  unless  he  could  add  the  interpreting  light 
of  the  Christian  faith  to  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
history,  literature,  mathematics,  and  physics.  That  was 
the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  The  Triumph  of  Failure. 

The  manuscript  was  completed  by  the  beginning  of  1898. 

Before  giving  the  copy  to  a  publisher  Father  Sheehan 
submitted  it  to  Matthew  Russell  for  comment  and  cor- 
rection. How  his  friend  attended  to  the  matter  is  shown 
in  the  following: 

86  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin,  August  25. 
My  dear  Father  Sheehan, 

I  have  galloped  through  your  chapters  a  little  more  rapidly 
than  I  began.  You  must  have  been  amused  at  the  useless  mi- 
nuteness of  my  comments;  but  that  is  my  proof-reading  instinct 
—  I  sometimes  correct  a  printed  book.  In  these  last  chapters  I 
have  quietly  changed  left  them  in,  into  let  them  in,  and  in  ask  them 
go  away,  I  took  for  granted  you  omitted  to  unwittingly,  not  in- 
tending an  American  peculiarity. 

Your  little  bits  of  description  as  in  the  page  ii  of  Chap.  IX  are 
very  good,  and  all  the  better  for  being  so  carefully  restrained. 
But  did  you  mean  eyes  and  eyes  to  come  so  near  in  the  next  page 
line  7.? 

Gwendo/zw^  and  Gwendo/^w  —  you  use  both  forms.  Give 
some  general  direction  to  the  printer. 

Why  did  Leviston  preserve  all  those  letters  in  Chap.  X.? 


120  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Charlie  Travers'  peroration  is  splendid:  I  will  use  it  next 
summer  in  introducing  "The  Two  Standards." 

St.  Ephrem  will  be  a  revelation  to  many.  Work  at  such 
sources,  not  at  Kant. 

I  wonder  is  your  evidence  on  the  Will  case  taken  legally. 

How  dare  you  put  a  note  of  exclamation  after  yes? 

Your  characters  use  Christian  names  perhaps  too  much.  After 
the  Trial  would  Austin  call  Mr.  Deane  Hubert? 

In  the  Trial  Austin  is  Collector  at Hall;    but  in  several 

other  places  Leinster  Hall  is  named.     Was  it  in  working  order  in 
1 87-?     I  think  it  was  perhaps  late  in  the  'Seventies. 

Would  imprisonment  for  contempt  of  court  involve  such  con- 
sequences as  in  Chap.  XVII.'' 

But  I  am  ashamed  of  having  helped  to  keep  this  beautiful 
book  a  day  more  from  the  printers.  Please  God,  it  will  do  plenty 
of  good  and  lead  on  to  even  better  things.  I  am  not  sure  that  the 
translations  of  some  of  the  chapter-mottoes  would  not  do  better 
without  the  originals. 

The  preaching  parts  are  the  best,  I  think,  and  the  most  in- 
teresting. 

I  am  impatient  to  read  it  all  in  type,  which  is  pleasanter  even 
than  your  excellent  manuscript. 

Take  care  of  your  health.  God  wants  a  good  deal  from  your 
voice  and  pen. 

Dr.  Kolbe  is  anxious  to  hear  what  is  thought  of  his  paper  on 
Shakspere's  Julius  Ccesar  in  the  Irish  Monthly  for  September 
which  will  reach  you  soon. 

Ever,  dear  Fr.  Sheehan, 

Yours  aJfFectionately 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

The  volume  was  nearly  twice  the  size  of  Geoffrey  Austin. 
As  the  latter  had  not  found  a  very  ready  welcome  in  Ire- 
land, Father  Sheehan  looked  for  a  publisher  in  America, 
the  land  of  free  speech,  and  without  traditions  to  hamper 
a  fair  valuation  of  what  he  contended  for.  Here,  too,  were 
his  own  countrymen,  with  a  much  broader  outlook,  and  with 
no  less  sympathy  for  the  progress  of  national  independence 
at  home.  He  believed  that  they  would  understand  and 
second  his  plea  for  the  things  that  contribute  to  the  higher 
education  of  youth  in  the  mother  country. 


Chap.  II]  HIS  FIRST  BOOK  121 

With  this  hope  he  sent  his  manuscript  to  a  leading  pub- 
Hsher  in  New  York.  After  four  months  it  was  returned 
to  him  with  a  poHte  note  to  the  effect  that  the  novel  was 
not  available  for  publication  —  it  was  *'too  voluminous." 
No  doubt  the  American  publisher  was  well  informed  as 
to  the  slow  sale  of  the  author's  first  book,  and  felt  the  risk 
of  undertaking  to  print  the  sequel. 


Ill 

FAVORITE    THEMES 

MEANWHILE  Geoffrey  Austin  had  been  given 
a  lengthy  and  favorable  notice  in  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Review.  That  was  in  1897.  Having 
obtained  from  the  Messrs.  M.  H.  Gill  and  Son  in  Dublin 
the  address  of  the  anonymous  author,  the  editor  had  written 
to  Father  Sheehan: 

Gresham  Hotel,  Dublin, 

'July    19,  1897. 

The  Rev.  P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.P., 

Doneraile,  Co.  Cork. 
Reverend  and  dear  Sir, 

Having  read  with  much  pleasure  your  book  "Geoffrey  Austin  — 
Student,"  and  judging  that  the  proposed  succeeding  volume,  of 
which  you  give  an  intimation,  is  likely  to  bear  some  relation  to 
ecclesiastical  education,  I  take  the  opportunity  of  asking  you  to 
consider  the  proposal  of  contributing  one  or  more  articles  on  this 
or  some  kindred  topic  to  the  American  Ecclesiastical  Review^  of 
which  magazine  I  am  editor.  I  write  this  "en  route,"  and  shall 
be  able  to  give  you  further  details  as  to  form,  terms,  etc.,  when  I 
learn  that  you  are  disposed  or  free  to  write  for  us.  In  the  mean 
time  I  would  beg  you  to  address  me  at  the  American  College, 
Louvain,  Belgium,  where  I  hope  shortly  to  be. 

Trusting  that  you  will  find  it  agreeable  to  comply  with  my 
request,  and  to  indicate  if  possible  some  definite  subjects  on  which 
you  would  be  prepared  to  write  for  us,  I  am  yours  faithfully  in 
Xt., 

H.  J.  Heuser. 

P.S.  —  I   am  sure  our  terms  will   prove  entirely  satisfactory  to 
you. 

A   few   days   later   Father    Sheehan    sent   the   following 

reply : 

122 


Chap.  Ill  ]  FAVORITE  THEMES  123 

DONERAILE,   Co.   CoRK, 

July  21,  '97. 

Rev.  dear  Father: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  kind  communication.  I  shall  be  very 
happy  to  correspond  with  your  wishes.  I  have  been  anxious  for 
a  long  time  to  get  into  touch  with  the  American  priesthood:  and 
if  I  had  had  the  opportunity,  I  should  have  published  the  sequel 
to  "Geoffrey  Austin"  in  America.  I  believe  the  volume  (which  is 
practically  a  series  of  essays  on  the  futility  of  human  sciences  as 
compared  with  the  great  central  science  of  the  Church,  linked 
together  by  a  narrative)  would  be  more  widely  understood  in 
America  than  at  home.  However,  as  no  opportunity  arose  which 
would  bring  me  into  relation  with  an  American  publisher,  I  have 
now  very  nearly  completed  arrangements  with  Messrs.  Burns 
and  Oates,  London,  for  the  publication  of  the  volume,  which  will 
extend  to  nearly  five  hundred  pages.     I  enclose  a  list  of  chapters. 

I  have  been  engaged  for  some  time  in  putting  together  some 
ideas  about  clerical  education.  I  have  struck  out  the  chapters 
and  designs:  and  have  written  the  first  three  chapters.  The 
whole  when  completed  will  run  thus:  — 

Book  I 

The  Student 

Chapt.      I.  Clerical  Equipment:  —  Piety 

Chapt.    II.  Clerical  Equipment:  —  Culture  (Philosophy) 

Chapt.  III.  Clerical  Equipment:  —  Culture  (Theology) 

Chapt.  IV.  Clerical  Equipment:  —  Culture  (Eccles.  History). 

Book  ii 
The  Priest 

Chapt.      I.  The  Priest  as  "Sacrificer." 

Chapt.    II.  The  Priest  as  "Custos  Domini." 

Chapt.  III.  The  Priest  as  "Psalmist." 

Chapt.  IV.  The  Priest  as  "Dispenser  of  Mysteries." 

Book  III 

The  Apostle 

Chapt.     I.   The  Apostolate  of  Preaching. 
Chapt.    II.    The  Apostolate  of  the  Schools. 
Chapt.  III.    The  Apostolate  of  the  Press. 


124  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Chapt.  IV.  The  Apostolate  of  Literature. 
Chapt.  V.  The  Apostolate  of  the  Laity. 
Chapt,  VI.   The  Apostolate  of  the  Religious  Orders. 

The  first  of  these  three  chapters  are  written:  which  I  shall  be 
happy  to  submit  to  you  whenever  you  come  to  Ireland.  I  could 
not  say  however  in  what  time  I  shall  have  the  whole  design  com- 
pleted, for  I  have  a  great  deal  to  do,  both  in  missionary  work  and 
in  literature.  The  volume,  too,  was  intended  primarily  for  the 
Irish  Church:  but  the  Introduction  alone  is  affected  by  that 
idea. 

I  shall  be  very  happy  to  hear  from  you  again,  and  remain. 

Rev.  dear  Father, 

Yours  in  Christ, 
P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

An  outline  of  the  contents  of  The  Triumph  of  Failure, 
the  publication  of  which  had  not  yet  been  finally  arranged, 
accompanied  the  letter. 

As  to  the  articles  on  Clerical  Education,  proposed  by 
Father  Sheehan,  it  w^as  impossible  to  accept  them  for  the 
Ecclesiastical  Review  because  that  magazine  was  just  then 
running  a  similar  series  by  the  late  Abbe  Hogan,  under  the 
title  of  "Clerical  Studies."     Accordingly  the  editor  w^rote 

to  him: 

The  American  College,  Louvain, 

July  24,  '97. 

The  Rev.  P.  A.  Sheehan,  PP. 

ReVEREND    DEAR   FaTHER: 

Your  kind  letter  has  just  reached  me.  I  am  glad  you  find  it 
agreeable  to  comply  with  my  request,  and  that  the  nature  of  your 
work  corresponds  with  the  aim  and  scope  of  our  Review.  As  we 
have  but  recently  discussed  the  question  of  "Clerical  Studies" 
(Dr.  Hogan,  of  St.  John's  Seminary,  Brighton,  Mass.,  is  continuing 
the  topic  in  serial  papers  published  at  intervals)  I  should  prefer 
to  make  selection  of  some  of  the  topics  which  are  treated  in  iso- 
lated chapters  of  your  proposed  volume  ^  —  any  or  all  of  which 
would  be  suitable  matter  for  the  current  numbers  of  our  magazine. 
In  case  you  agree  to  let  me  have  the  ten  papers  (comprised  in  so 

^The  chapters  which  it  was  thought  might  be  available  were  pointed  out  in 
a  note. 


Chap.  Ill  ]  FAVORITE  THEMES  125 

many  chapters)  treating  of  the  Priest  as  "Sacrificer"  —  "Gustos 
Domini"  —  "Psalmist,"  etc.,  I  would  make  the  following  propo- 
sition, presuming  that  you  wish  to  retain  the  right  of  publishing 
them  afterwards  in  book  form: 

That  you  will  send  us  one  (or  more)  articles  every  two  months, 
you  to  receive  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  (in  ten  or  less  fre- 
quent instalments)  according  to  the  receipt  of  the  papers.  The 
publication  of  the  articles  would  no  doubt  materially  advance  the 
subsequent  sale  of  the  volume  when  published,  especially  if  that 
be  done  in  the  States,  where  the  demand  for  such  literature  is 
quickly  growing.  However  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  write  in 
any  case,  and  would  accede  to  your  own  terms  if  you  prefer  to 
make  them. 

Awaiting  your  kind  reply,  I  am. 

Yours  faithfully  in  Xt. 
H.  J.  Heuser. 

Father  Sheehan  had  at  the  time  written  only  the  first 
few  chapters  of  his  series  as  designated,  and  it  was  never 
published.  What  I  find  of  it  among  his  papers  is  of  interest 
as  showing  his  views  on  clerical  education.  The  MS.  bears 
the  title  The  Work  and  Wants  of  the  Irish  Churchy  and 
deals  with  equipment  of  the  clerical  student  in  the  matter 
of  piety  and  general  culture.  As  regards  the  subject  of 
scholastic  philosophy  Father  Sheehan  had  evidently  al- 
tered his  attitude  from  that  entertained  by  him  during 
his  seminary  days  at  Maynooth.  Probably  subsequent 
study  had  taught  him  its  practical  value  as  a  medium  for 
the  training  of  the  mind. 

There  is  an  introduction  to  these  ecclesiastical  pedagogics, 
in  which,  under  the  title  The  Isle  of  Destiny,  he  dwells  at 
some  length  upon  the  providential  calling  of  the  Irish 
race  to  carry  abroad  the  faith  of  Christ.  At  the  conclu- 
sion he  inquires  why,  in  the  face  of  new  dangers  to  religion 
from  the  insidious  attacks  of  modern  civilization,  "a  race, 
chosen  by  the  Holy  Spirit  for  such  vast  spiritual  work, 
should  be  spiritually  dormant  in  its  own  home."  He  asks 
whether  "there  are  any  reasons  why  energies  so  visible  and 
far-reaching    when    transplanted    abroad,    should    remain 


126  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

inoperative  where  we  should  suppose  they  would  be  most 
highly  developed." 

The  sad  Miserere  that  crept  around  the  Irish  coast  when  Irish 
exiles  were  departing,  has  long  since  burst  forth  into  a  glorious 
Te  Deum  that  is  echoed  from  New  York  to  Melbourne,  from 
Westminster  to  the  City  of  the  Golden  Gate:  but  why  is  it  still 
but  a  spiritual  Miserere  at  home?  ^ 

In  eloquently  pathetic  words  he  complains  of  the  mu- 
tilated worship  in  the  churches  of  Ireland,  of  the  gradual 
lessening  of  faith,  the  decay  of  fervor,  the  lowering  of 
spiritual  standards  in  the  religious  life  of  the  country,  the 
deteriorated  morals  of  the  larger  towns,  and  of  the  fact 
that  in  many  places  religion  in  its  baldest  and  barest  forms 
does  not  touch  the  lives  of  the  poorer  and  uneducated 
classes.  He  laments  that  the  pure  and  refined  lives  which 
under  happier  conditions  were  the  lot  of  the  Irish  peasantry 
should  be  considered  the  dowry  only  of  a  past  generation. 

The  gentle  courtesy,  the  patience  under  trial,  the  faces  trans- 
figured by  suffering  —  these  characteristics  of  our  Celtic  and 
Catholic  peasantry,  which  elicited  the  admiration  of  even  Protes- 
tant strangers,  are  rapidly  disappearing  under  the  new  conditions 
of  life.  The  abandonment  of  country  life,  the  emigration  to 
cities  and  towns,  the  subtle  influences  of  American  intercourse  — 
all  these  things  are  wiping  out  traits  and  characteristics  that  were 
once  our  happiness  and  our  boast.  The  lineaments  of  modern 
Pagan  civilization  are  making  themselves  but  too  apparent  in  the 
manners  of  our  people,  and  the  sweet  simplicities  of  the  past  are 
yielding  to  narrower  and  more  complex  sensibilities,  to  curiosity 
and  criticism  and  that  uplifting  of  the  heart  which  is  the  most 
deadly  enemy  to  sanctity .^ 

He  looks  to  the  clergy  for  the  remedy  of  this  apparent 
deterioration. 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland  is  quite 
prepared  to  meet  these  new  phases  which  every  day  will  become 
more  pronounced  and  defined.  To  many,  deep  lovers  of  that 
Church  in  its  past  history  and  its  present  environments,  there 

1  From  the  MS.  ^  /^j^. 


Chap.  Ill]  FAVORITE  THEMES  127 

appears  to  be  a  sad  lack  of  organization,  an  unconsciousness  of 
present  possibilities  and  future  dangers,  and  a  want  of  corres- 
pondence with  the  magnificent  opportunities  which  the  innate 
piety  and  faith  of  our  people  afford,  which  augur  badly  for  the 
future,  and  which  may  yet  lead  to  recrimination  and  regrets. 
Above  all  there  is  a  waste  of  energy  that  finds  its  result  in  tepidity, 
laxity  of  morals  amongst  the  people,  indevotion,  impiety  in  con- 
versation, irreverence  in  the  young,  irreligion  amongst  the  older 
members,  and  a  total  absence  of  the  "higher  sanctity"  that  might 
be  expected  to  be  general  among  a  people  so  highly  dowered  by 
nature  and  grace.^ 

His  appeal  is  therefore  to  the  priests  of  Ireland,  whom  he 
urges  to  realize  that  "the  old  order  changeth,"  calHng  for 
adjustment  in  the  attitude  of  the  leaders  of  the  people. 

Some  of  us,  not  altogether  dreamers  and  idealists,  believe  it 
quite  possible  to  make  the  Irish  race  as  cultured,  refined,  and  puri- 
fied by  the  influence  of  Christian  teachings  as  she  was  in  the  days 
of  Aidan  and  Columba;  and  we  look  forward  to  the  time  when 
Ireland,  emancipated  from  the  vexatious  and  harassing  con- 
ditions of  the  present,  shall  become  a  powerful  factor  in  that 
war  between  the  Church  and  the  world  which  is  becoming  more 
keen  and  intense  the  more  Protean  the  forms  in  which  the  in- 
fidelity of  the  latter  reveals  itself. 

But  to  carry  out  this  high  destiny,  Ireland  needs  above  all  the 
services  of  a  priesthood,  learned,  zealous,  and  disciplined  into  the 
solidarity  of  aim  and  principle,  which  alone  can  make  it  formidable 
and  successful.^ 

If  Father  Sheehan  proposed  to  point  out  the  defects  and 
to  suggest  remedial  measures  in  the  educational  system  of 
the  theological  seminary,  it  wa.s  in  no  spirit  of  criticism 
or  conscious  personal  superiority. 

No  one  could  be  more  keenly  alive  than  the  present  writer  to 
the  self  sacrifice,  the  devotion  to  duty,  the  fidelity  to  their  flocks, 
which  have  always  characterized  the  Irish  priest,  and  which  were 
never  more  clearly  manifested  than  in  the  crucial  trials  of  the  last 
ten  years.     But  we  think,  with  all  diffidence  and  humility,  that 

1  Ibid.  2  /^jj. 


128  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

the  system  at  present  in  operation  in  the  Irish  Church  needs  re- 
vision and  amendment;  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  suggestion  made 
here  may  stimulate  those  in  whose  hands  God  has  placed  the 
power  of  reformation  and  reconstruction  to  modify  and  organize 
on  a  healthier  plan  the  principles  that  at  present  are  guiding  the 
Irish  Church.^ 

That  is  the  thought  that  runs  through  these  essays  — 
a  call  to  the  clergy  to  rise  to  their  high  responsibility  by 
making  their  people  at  home  patterns  of  moral  and  intel- 
lectual achievement,  such  as  their  native  gifts  and  inherited 
graces  of  faith  warrant.  The  accomplishment  of  this 
design  called  for  elevated  standards  and  new  methods  of 
ecclesiastical  training  and  these  he  ventured  to  propose. 

Early  in  1898  Father  Sheehan  wrote  a  paper  on  the 
"Value  of  Literary  Criticism."  ^  Possibly  he  was  endeavor- 
ing to  revenge  himself  on  his  critics  who  had  thus  far  at- 
tended chiefly  to  his  shortcomings. 

DoNERAILE,   Co.   CoRK, 

March  3,  '98 

Rev.  dear  Father, 

Some  months  ago  you  were  kind  enough  to  request  some  con- 
tributions from  me  for  your  magazine.  I  have  had  neither  health 
nor  time  to  do  much  since;  but  perhaps  you  would  allow  me  to 
make  my  debut  in  your  journal  with  the  enclosed  paper  on  "The 
Higher  Criticism." 

I  have  personally  only  too  much  reason  to  be  thankful  for  my 
treatment  by  yourself  in  your  critique  of  "Geoffrey  Austin"  last 
year.  But  I  think  and  feel  that  we  are  too  prone  to  admire  every- 
thing that  comes  from  the  opposite  camps  of  infidelity  and  heresy, 
instead  of  assuming  the  efficiency  of  the  vast  forces  at  our  disposal. 
It  is  quite  possible  however  that  this  paper  may  not,  in  some 
respects,  meet  your  views.  In  that  case  you  would  do  me  a  great 
favour  by  returning  the  MS.  as  I  rarely  keep  copies  of  what  I 
write. 

I  am.  Rev.  and  dear  Father, 
Faithfully  yours  in  Xt. 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  PP. 
1  Ibid. 

*  Ecclesiastical  Review,  June,  1898,  p.  591. 


Chap.  Ill]  FAVORITE  THEMES  129 

The  article  referred  to  points  out  that  "a  critic  serves 
a  most  useful  purpose  in  wisely  discriminating  between 
the  valuable  and  useful  elements  in  literature."  His  first 
principle  in  selecting  for  commendation  a  Catholic  book 
should  be  the  reverse  or  rather  the  direct  contradictory  of 
the  old  scholastic  maxim  Bonum  ex  integra  causa:  Malum 
ex  quocumque  defectu,  a  perfectly  healthy  axiom  in  moral 
science,  but  a  vicious  and  pernicious  maxim  in  criticism. 
He  shows  that  Catholic  critics  on  the  whole  have  over- 
looked the  good  to  be  found  in  Catholic  writers.  He  in- 
stances Francis  Thompson,  who  had  at  the  time  been 
noticed  only  by  Coventry  Patmore  and  Wilfrid  Meynell, 
and  who  was  then  wearing  out  his  genius  in  writing  little 
prose  sketches  for  the  Franciscan  Annals.  Another  writer 
whom  he  mentions  as  an  example  of  neglected  talent  is  the 
Reverend  Dr.  William  Barry  whose  New  Antigone,  published 
shortly  before,  evinced  a  high  order  of  literary  talent,  though 
it  fell  short,  among  Cathohc  critics,  of  the  sympathy  it 
seemed  to  merit. 

Next  Father  Sheehan  intimates  that  the  trend  of  modern 
writing  is  toward  adopting  the  novel  or  story  as  the  best 
and  most  attractive  vehicle  for  teaching,  not  only  morals 
and  history,  but  science  as  well.  He  believes  that  if  Buckle, 
Newman,  Ruskin,  and  men  of  their  genius  had  been  in 
their  prime  during  the  last  few  years,  they  would  have 
chosen  fiction  as  the  means  of  putting  forward  and  popu- 
larizing their  favorite  theories.  He  argues,  in  fine,  that 
the  world  of  to-day  should  be  taught  Christianity  through 
the  medium  of  attractive  imagery  rather  than  in  the  di- 
dactic language  of  the  old  schools.  And  he  urges  the  critics 
to  help  the  writers  who  adopt  this  method  and  to  cease 
picking  flaws.  He  characterizes  negative  criticism  as  being 
either  hyperaemic  or  anaemic;  doing  good  to  neither  reader 
nor  writer. 

While  thus  absorbingly  active  in  his  own  projects  Father 
Sheehan  did  not  fail  to  send  a  cheerful  godspeed  to  his  fel- 
low workers  in  a  kindred  cause.  His  old  schoolmate, 
William   O'Brien,   who   had   entered   Parliament   some   fif- 


I30  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

teen  years  before,  when  barely  past  thirty,  had  not  allowed 
his  hterary  gifts  to  he  idle.  He  had  just  at  this  time  writ- 
ten a  political  novel.  The  Wreckers,  of  which  he  had  sent 
an  advance  copy  to  his  friend  at  Doneraile.  Father 
Sheehan's  acknowledgment  reflects  not  merely  a  genial 
appreciation,  but  incidentally  his  own  mental  attitude 
toward  the  subject  of  Enghsh  misrule  in  Ireland. 

Doneraile,  Co.  Cork 

April  30,  1898 

My  DEAR  William, 

I  deferred  writing  to  thank  you  for  the  great  favour  done  me  by 
sending  me  an  early  copy  of  your  new  novel,  until  I  should  have 
had  the  gratification  of  reading  it,  and  telling  you  what  I  thought 
of  it.  I  have  now  gone  carefully  through  the  chapters;  but  last 
night  I  had  to  close  the  book  at  the  21  Chap.  "The  Wreckers" 
quite  overpowered  me  by  the  dramatic  intensity  of  the  descrip- 
tion. I  am  not  acquainted  with  any  chapter  in  fiction  that  equals 
its  dramatic  force.  It  challenges  comparison  with  the  famous 
storm  scene  in  "David  Copperfield,"  which  culminated  in  Steer- 
forth's  death;  but  the  latter  is  easy  reading.  "The  Wreckers" 
cannot  be  read  without  great  nerve  tension. 

I  think  you  have  produced  a  memorable  book.  It  is  your 
greatest  step  towards  realizing  the  vocation  that  many  have 
foreshadowed  for  you  —  that  of  being  the  "Walter  Scott"  of 
Ireland.  What  will  strike  every  one  most  in  the  book  is  its 
peculiarly  Gallic  flavour.  You  did  a  wise  and  artistic  thing  in 
giving  the  Irish  expressions  as  they  occurred  and  inserting  the 
Irish  idioms  in  the  dialogue.  But  it  must  have  cost  you  immense 
study  —  in  history  and  in  language.  It  is  a  grand  Irish  novel; 
and  will  be  taken  to  the  hearts  of  the  people.  But  it  is  all  so  piti- 
ful, so  sad  —  the  eternal  story  of  Irish  trustfulness  and  English 
perfidy.  You  have  done  justice  to  Sir  John  Perrot  —  a  figure 
almost  too  much  neglected  in  Irish  History.  I  hope  you  will 
deal  yet  with  my  deceased  parishioners,  Edmund  Spenser  and 
Raleigh.^ 

There  will  be  a  peculiar  attraction  for  the  book  just  now,  as  it 
calls  up  so  powerfully  our  past  relations  with  Spain.     And  a  very 

^  This  is  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  (Ralegh),  friend  of  Spenser  and  associated  with  the 
latter  during  his  sojourn  in  Ireland. 


Chap.  Ill]  FAVORITE  THEMES  131 

large  percentage  of  our  countrymen  cling  to  these  conditions,  and 
give  all  their  sympathies  in  the  present  war^  to  our  old  ally. 

With  most  grateful  thanks  for  your  kind  remembrance,  and  with 
all  good  wishes  for  your  future,  fraught  with  such  vast  conse- 
quences to  Ireland,  I  am,  dear  William, 

Yours   affectionately, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

*  Spanish-American  War  of  1898. 


IV 

THE    GENESIS    OF    "mY   NEW   CURATE "    AND   ITS    RECEPTION 

IN    accepting    Father   Sheehan's    article    on    "Literary 
Criticism"  mentioned  above,  the  editor  of  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Review  had  taken  occasion  to  suggest  "Clerical 
Types"  as  a  theme  for  his  pen. 

OvERBROOK,  March  15,  1898. 

Dear  Father  Sheehan, 

.  .  .  Last  year  I  proposed  to  you  to  write  some  papers  on 
Clerical  Training.  Not  hearing  from  you,  and  seeing  in  the  mean 
time  some  articles  in  a  lighter  vein  over  your  name,  I  concluded 
that  you  had  abandoned  the  project  of  the  series;  and  since  I 
have  material  from  writers  here  on  the  same  subject,  I  am  satisfied. 

But  I  can  make  another  offer  to  you,  if  agreeable.  We  want  a 
series  of  papers  entitled  "Types  of  the  Catholic  Priest":  "My 
Pastors,"  "My  Curates,'*  etc.  These  are  to  be  sketches  of  char- 
acter and  priestly  life,  written  in  a  mingled  vein  of  humor  and 
serious  thought.  Where  they  happen  to  point  out  any  weak  phases, 
it  should  be  done  in  a  way  which  could  not  possibly  wound,  though 
it  might  suggest  correction.  If  you  do  not  find  such  writing  to 
your  taste,  could  you  suggest  to  us  some  one  who  possesses  the 
talent  to  portray  men,  and  describe  their  doings  in  the  parish,  in 
the  home  of  the  priest,  the  church,  etc.,  in  company  with  his 
brother  priests,  etc. 

Awaiting  your  reply, 

I  am  faithfully  yours  in  Xt. 
H.  J.  Heuser. 

The  following  was  his  answer: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK, 

JpTll   2,    '98 

Rev,  dear  Father: 

Many  thanks  for  your  letter  and  enclosure.  I  quite  approve  of 
your  change  of  title  in  my  paper.  I  had  adverted  to  it,  but  I 
thought  to  give  the  paper  a  catching  title. 

132 


Chap.  IV]  "MY   NEW    CURATE"  133 

In  reference  to  your  suggestion  that  I  should  write  a  series  of 
papers  on  clerical  life,  it  is  rather  a  curious  coincidence  that  I  had 
already  in  my  portfolio  ten  chapters  on  clerical  life  in  Ireland, 
which  I  had  purposed  to  develop  into  a  volume.  They  were  in- 
tended, however,  for  popular  reading:  and  my  thought  was  to  in- 
troduce my  own  ideas,  suggestions,  etc,  under  the  sugar  coating  of 
a  story.  I  venture  to  send  you  these  chapters.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible they  will  not  meet  your  views,  in  which  case  I  would  thank 
you  to  return  them. 

Should  they  be  considered  suitable  for  your  paper,  then  I 
could  easily  divert  them  from  the  original  purpose,  and  make  the 
remaining  chapters  more  closely  indicative  of  clerical  studies, 
duties,  etc. 

In  any  case  it  was  my  intention  to  offer  the  papers  as  a  serial 
to  some  Catholic  magazine. 

With  very  many  thanks, 
I  am,  dear  Rev.  Father, 
Yours  in  Christ, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

I  think  Wilfrid  Meynell,  editor  of  the  London  Weekly  Register, 
will  be  interested  in  the  paper  on  criticism.  He  always  notices 
your  Review. 

I  suppose  I  have  to  thank  you  also  for  the  fact  that  Geoffrey 
Austin  is  about  to  be  translated  into  German. 

Shortly  after  the  foregoing  letter,  Father  Sheehan  sent 
his  manuscript.  That  was  the  beginning  of  My  New  Curate. 
The  first  instalment  appeared  in  the  May  issue  of  The 
Ecclesiastical  Review. 

No  one  but  an  editor  can  know  the  peculiar  thrill  which 
answers  the  receipt  of  a  manuscript  that  promises  to  make 
*'a  hit"  with  his  readers.  He  feels  that  not  only  has  he 
acquired  a  good  thing,  but  that  he  is,  in  a  sense,  the  pro- 
ducer of  it;  he  has  discovered  the  mine  that  holds  the 
precious  ore.  And  there  is  further  the  enjoyable  conscious- 
ness that  the  treasure  brought  to  light  by  him  is  sure  to 
give  widespread  intellectual  pleasure,  and  a  happy  ex- 
pectancy for  what  each  new  instalment  of  the  story  may 
bring.  The  sense  of  satisfaction  is  enhanced  when  the  work 
has  the  quality  of  originality  which  is  likely  to  preserve  it 


134  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

for  generations  to  come.  This  story  promised  to  be  a  valu- 
able and  an  altogether  new  departure  in  ecclesiastical 
literature. 

Father  Sheehan  had  sent  ten  chapters,  as  a  beginning  of 
the  proposed  serial.  Five  of  these  pictured  the  pastor 
and  his  new  curate,  and  the  description  was  most  attrac- 
tively true  to  life.  With  the  sixth  chapter  the  story  began 
to  take  on  the  character  of  a  Celtic  romance,  by  intro- 
ducing a  witch,  supposed  to  hold  intercourse  with  the 
fairies  and  to  control  certain  evil  spirits.  It  dealt  with  a 
phase  of  popular  superstition  unfamiliar  to  most  readers 
outside  Ireland,  although  in  the  mind  of  Father  Sheehan 
the  subject  happened  to  have  a  special  apologetic  value. 
Witchcraft,  though  banished  from  popular  belief  on  the 
continent  for  nearly  two  centuries,  had  taken  tenacious 
root  in  parts  of  Ireland.^ 

The  well-known  case  of  the  burning  of  Bridget  Cleary 
at  Bally vadlea  as  late  as  1895,  in  which  nine  persons  were 
tried  at  Clonmel  for  complicity  in  causing  the  death  of  a 
young  woman,  under  the  superstitious  belief  that  she  had 
been  carried  off  by  the  fairies,  and  that  an  evil  spirit  had 
been  put  in  possession  of  her  body,  was  demonstration 
of  the  continuance  of  this  superstition.  Contemporary 
journals  had  charged  the  clergy  with  having  failed  to  crush 
out  this  species  of  "ignorance  and  superstition  gathered 
round  the  Druidical  or  Danish  rath."  Our  author  wanted 
to  show  that  the  Catholic  clergy  was  entirely  opposed  to 
such  a  practice.  Beyond  this  it  was  his  purpose  to  eHminate 
the  abuse  from  among  his  own  people. 

As  the  application  of  the  argument  was  not  likely  to  be 

*  Mr.  St.  John  Seymour,  a  Dublin  clergyman,  has  since  published  a  history  of 
Irish  Witchcraft  and  Demonology  (Hodges,  Figgis  and  Co.  191 3),  in  which  he  traces 
its  origin  and  practice.  Whilst  he  shows  that  "Ireland  had  been  unjustly  stigma- 
tized as  a  barbarous  and  superstitious  country,"  he  instances  examples  of  witches 
being  tried  and  convicted  there,  and  allows  that  the  custom  of  designating  persons 
as  fairy  witches  has  taken  on  new  life  in  modern  times,  among  the  ignorant  and 
the  superstitiously  inclined,  who  frequently  have  recourse  to  the  most  absurd  de- 
vices for  the  cure  of  particular  ills,  or  even  the  infliction  of  malicious  injuries  upon 
others. 


Chap.  IV]  "MY   NEW   CURATE"  135 

understood  by  the  reader  unfamiliar  with  conditions  in 
Ireland,  the  five  chapters  in  question  were  returned  to 
Father  Sheehan  with  a  statement  of  the  objection  and 
a  request,  if  possible,  to  modify  the  presentation  of  the 
matter  accordingly.     His  reply  was: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK, 

May  6,  '98. 

Rev,  dear  Father: 

I  enclose  corrected  proofs.  I  received  your  letter  and  check 
(50  dollars)  for  which  accept  my  thanks.  The  MS.  registered 
came  to  hand  also  to-day,  with  proofs. 

My  original  idea  in  writing  those  papers  was  to  ventilate  my 
own  ideas  on  purely  ecclesiastical  subjects.  Then  I  changed  the 
plan  and  introduced  a  little  romanticism.  Now  that  you  have 
kindly  taken  up  the  papers,  I  revert  to  the  first  design;  and  will 
make  these  papers  of  Irish  life  at  the  same  time  sermons  in 
miniature. 

I  have  rewritten,  therefore,  the  remaining  chapters,  leaving 
out  the  romance  — the  story  of  the  witch,  etc.  I  have  retained  the 
chapter,  or  rather  parts  of  it,  called  "The  Great  House,"  and 
renamed  it  "At  the  Station."  I  have  also  retained  the  chapter 
"Our  Concert"  which  is  drawn  from  actual  experience;  and  in 
which  I  desire  to  show  what  could  be  done  in  Ireland  if  we  only 
wished.  I  have  rewritten  the  chapter  on  secret  societies,  and 
have  added  two  new  sketches,  "Severely  Reprimanded"  and 
"A  Lesson  in  Resignation." 

I  have  expunged  all  the  rest,  and  confined  the  chapters  to  a 
priest's  daily  experiences  in  Ireland  with  all  classes.  I  think  you 
will  find  this  satisfactory;  but  of  course  you  can  best  judge  what 
is  suitable  for  the  majority  of  your  readers. 

If  you  have  any  suggestions  to  make  as  to  the  course  which 
these  papers  ought  to  take,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  accept  them, 
so  far  as  I  am  able. 

I  shall  send  remaining  chapters  in  a  few  days. 

Thanking  you  very  much  for  all  your  kindness, 
I  am,  dear  Father, 

Yours  faithfully  in  Xt. 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.P. 

The  original  title  of  the  series  had  been  changed  to 
My   New   Curate.     Since  the   author   had   been   reluctant 


136  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

to  write  over  his  name,  the  story  was  announced  with  the 
subtitle    "  Stray   Leaves    from    an    Irish    Parish    Priest's 
Diary." 
Three  weeks  later  he  wrote: 

DONERAILE,   Co.   CoRK, 

May  28,  '98. 

My  dear  Father  Heuser: 

I  send  you  by  this  mail,  leaving  Queenstown  tomorrow,  Sunday 
29th,  four  chapters  of  "My  New  Curate."  I  sincerely  hope  they 
will  please  you,  and  reach  you  in  time  for  your  July  number. 

I  am  glad  you  have  preserved  my  anonymity,  although  my 
friends  here  have  guessed  at  once  the  author. 

I  would  hardly  care  to  write  those  papers,  if  I  could  not 
make  them  edifying  as  well  as  amusing:  and  it  is  therefore  a 
source  of  great  satisfaction  to  be  assured  by  you  that  they 
must  do  good.  I  hope  I  shall  succeed  in  not  making  my 
teaching  too  obtrusive. 

You  will  see  that  I  have  altogether  eliminated  the  romantic, 
and  cut  away  all  my  descriptive  passages,  which  to  an  author  is 
equivalent  to  a  surgical  operation.  I  have  introduced  Campion, 
for  he  belongs  to  a  class  that  is  likely  to  give  trouble  in  Ireland. 
In  most  of  our  towns  professional  men  have  great  difficulty  in 
approaching  the  sacraments;  and  I  want  to  show  Father  Letheby's 
success  there. 

The  Station  Picture  and  Our  Concert  are  drawn  from  life.  Each 
has  its  own  moral,  that  of  the  latter  being  —  the  ease  with  which 
village  choirs  may  be  organized,  as  I  shall  show  in  succeeding 
papers.  The  Severely  Reprimanded  speaks  for  itself.  I  enclose 
syllabus  of  succeeding  chapters  that  you  may  know  the  drift  of 
my  work. 

My  great  difficulty  is  to  draw  from  life,  and  yet  avoid  identify- 
ing any  character  with  living  persons.  And  we  are  so  narrow  and 
insular  here  in  Ireland  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  prevent 

priests  saying:    "That  is  so  and   so,"  "That  is   Father ," 

etc.     But  I  shall  steer  clear,  without  wounding  charity. 

I  shall  leave  the  correction  of  proofs  in  your  own  hands.  A 
printer's  mistake  is  of  no  consequence. 

I  hold  a  short  tale  on  hand,  called  The  Monks  of  Traholgan. 
It  was  sent  back  from  "The  Catholic  World"  on  account  of  its 
length   (32  MS.   pages).     It  would  suit  your  series  of  papers  as 


Chap.  IV]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  137 

My  Curate's  First  Essay  in  Literature.     With   many  thanks  for 
all  your  kindness, 

I  am,  dear  Father, 
Yours  in  Xt. 

P.   A.    ShEEHAN 

P.S.  What  enormous  difficulties  lie  in  the  path  of  Catholic 
writers.  I  committed  a  typewritten  copy  of  The  Triumph  of 
Failure,  the  sequel  to  Geoffrey  Austin  to  .  .  .  New  York  four 
months  ago.  They  have  now  written  to  say  it  is  too  voluminous 
for  publication.  It  would  form  a  very  modest  volume  of  about 
350  pages.  I  am  writing  for  the  typewritten  copy  by  this  post: 
and  shall  now  publish  at  home. 

The  story  of  The  Monks  of  Traholgan  was  not  utilized 
for  My  New  Curate,  as  its  author  had  intended.  After 
having  been  declined  by  the  editor  of  the  Catholic  World 
it  was  offered  to  Father  Thomas  Finlay,  S.J.,  for  The 
New  Ireland  Review,  which  had  been  merged  with  The 
Lyceum  founded  by  him  in  1887.  Subsequently  the  story 
was  withdrawn,  as  the  following  letter  shows,  by  the  ad- 
vice of  Father  Russell,  who  suggested  some  revision.  Ulti- 
mately it  was  published  by  the  Catholic  Truth  Society  of 
Ireland.  Recent  events  of  the  war  have  given  it  a  special 
significance. 

86  St.  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin 
Feb.  7 

Dear  Father  Sheehan, 

Father  Tom  Finlay  demurred  a  little  when  I  demanded  The 
Monks  of  Traholgan,  but,  knowing  the  congested  state  of  his 
storehouse,  I  insisted  on  restoring  it  to  you  with  a  view  to  possible 
changes.  I  wonder,  when  it  finally  appears,  will  those  hexameters 
survive.  I  still  hold  that  a  man  with  any  taste  for  Latin  verse 
would  not  make  such  impossible  ones. 

Ever,  dear  Fr.  Sheehan, 
Yours  sincerely, 

Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

Father  Sheehan  inclosed  a  syllabus  of  the  succeeding 
chapters  of  My  New  Curate,  as  he  states  in  his  letter  of 
May  28th,  given  above.     The  titles  differ  from  those  in 


138  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

the  story  as  finally  arranged.  The  latter  ran  to  thirty- 
three  chapters,  the  last  of  which  appeared  in  the  September 
number  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Review  for  1899.  As  originally 
projected,  the  chapters,  beginning  with  the  tenth,  ran  as 
follows : 

Chapt.  X.   "Over  the  walnuts  and  the "     (A  conversation 

on  fraternal  correction,  Greek,  preaching,  the  temperance  question, 
etc.) 

Chapt.  XI.  "Beside  the  singing  river."  (Secret  Societies 
destructive  of  religion.) 

Chapt.  XII.  "My  Madonna."  (A  little  pathos  about  one  of 
the  school  children:   and  the  use  of  charms  in  Ireland.) 

Chapt.  XIII.  "Larry  McGee."  (My  curate's  attempts  at 
church  improvements.     His  annoyances,  etc.) 

Chapt.  XIV.  "Winter  Studies."  (The  philosophy  of  the  Tramp 
world.) 

Chapt.  XV.  "The  Captain  Campion  not  at  his  Christmas 
duty."     (My  Curate's  conference  with  him.) 

Chapt.  XVI.  "Christmas  Morning."  (The  ^c^^j-^^  by  the  new 
village  choir.) 

Chapt.  XVII.    "My  Curate  on  Literature." 

Chapt.  XVIII.  "The  May  Conference."  (Gives  the  pro- 
grammes, etc.,  of  our  Irish  conferences;  and  how  Father  Letheby 
startled  the  Conference  by  his  vehemence.) 

Chapt.  XIX.  "The  Star  of  the  Sea"  is  launched.  (Great 
Success  —  Troubles.) 

Chapt.  XX.  "The  Factory  Opened."  (Great  Success  — 
Troubles.) 

Chapt.  XXI.    "An  Eviction." 

Chapt.  XXII.  "Father  Letheby  Bankrupt."  (His  final 
success.) 

Chapt.  XXIII:   "The  Bishop's  Visitation." 

Chapt.  XXIV.  "I  get  the  Mozetta,  and  my  curate  is  promoted 
to  the  Cathedral." 

The  author's  desire  to  remain  anonymous  arose  not 
merely  from  sensitiveness  to  publicity,  but  from  unwilling- 
ness to  encounter  criticism  similar  to  that  which  had  been 
passed  upon  Geoffrey  Austin.  But  the  identity  of  the  writer 
of  My  New  Curate  could  not  long  remain  a  secret;    and 


Chap.  IV]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  139 

gradually  he  began  to  realize  that  the  vast  majority  of 
his  readers  were  delighted  with  his  excursions  into  Irish 
pastoral  preserves.  From  time  to  time  the  favorable 
criticisms  which  appeared  in  the  American  press,  and  some 
private  letters  from  men  whose  judgment  he  was  sure  to 
value,  were  sent  to  him. 

All  are  pleased  with  your  happy  delineations  of  priestly  life, 
and  with  the  sparkle  and  literary  finish  that  characterize  them, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  graceful  touches  of  your  fine  whip  which 
finds  the  sensitive  spot  to  urge  or  check.  Let  me  add  that  these 
papers  will  do  exceptional  good,  not  only  because  they  foster  a 
healthy  tendency  excelsior  in  various  ways,  but  also  because  of 
the  form  into  which  the  lessons  have  been  cast  through  your 
ingenuity  will  cause  them  to  be  read.  When  the  Lettres  d'un 
Cure  de  Campagne,  by  Querdec,  appeared  some  years  ago,  I 
anxiously  scoured  the  land  to  get  something  similar  in  English. 
The  subsequent  volumes  from  the  same  source  increased  this 
desire.  Now  you  have  just  struck  the  vein  which  suits  the  ma- 
jority of  our  readers.  I  wish  you  were  familiar  with  American 
modes  and  models  of  pastoral  life,  so  as  to  continue  the  work 
indefinitely  on  kindred  lines  when  you  have  done  with  My  New 
Curate. 

There  were,  however,  a  few  critics.  Some  even  of  those 
who  were  amused  and  edified  by  the  story  winced  at  the 
author's  references  to  certain  defects  among  the  clergy 
and  people  in  Ireland,  and  which  they  took  to  be  a  reflec- 
tion on  the  national  character.  But  the  ever  increasing 
popularity  of  the  story  made  it  quite  evident  that  these 
defects,  if  such  they  could  be  termed,  were  outweighed 
by  the  good  points  of  the  story.  At  this  the  author  seemed 
greatly  pleased.     On  June  19,  1898,  he  writes: 

I  am  much  gratified  at  the  enclosed  slips  —  "Laudari  a  lau- 
datis"  is  always  very  pleasant;  and  I  think  a  good  deal  of  Dr. 
Stang's  and  Fr.  Hogan's  appreciation  ...  I  also  have  to  thank 
you  for  the  cutting  from  the  Literary  Digest.  I  showed  it  to  Fr. 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J.,  editor  of  the  Irish  Monthly,  who  was 
sta)  ing  with  me  at  the  time.     It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Fr.  Russell 


140  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

and  Fr.  Finlay,  S.J.  came  simultaneously  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  New  Curate  was  my  work,  from  purely  internal  evidence. 

I  had  also  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  the  congratulations  of 
Bishop  Brady  of  Boston,  who  was  in  Clare  with  me,  and  to  whom 
Fr.  Hogan  revealed  the  authorship.  His  Lordship  said  that  his 
assistants  read  the  numbers  eagerly. 

If  there  are  any  subjects  on  literature,  poetry  or  philosophy, 
that  you  think  could  be  made  suitable  for  your  readers  in  the  form 
of  articles,  I  shall  have  some  spare  time,  I  hope,  during  the  winter 
months,  and  I  might  take  them  up.  I  have  an  article  on  "  Priestly 
Culture"  nearly  completed.  It  was  one  of  a  series  I  projected. 
It  deals  with  the  importance  of  the  study  of  philosophy.  But,  I 
suppose  Dr.  Hogan  (whose  papers  are  learned  and  attractive) 
holds  the  field  there. 

P.S.  —  I  send  you  a  photo  that  you  may  know  to  whom  you 
are  writing. 

Occasionally  Father  Sheehan,  asking  that  some  altera- 
tions be  made  in  his  MS.,  indicates  his  anxiety  to  avoid 
the  criticisms  mentioned  above: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK. 

Sept.  lo,  '98. 

There  is  just  one  paragraph  in  the  chapter  "Beside  the  Sing- 
ing River"  of  the  wording  of  which  I  am  not  quite  sure.  I  think 
it  commences:  It  was  a  magnificent  leap  of  imagination  on  Father 
Letheby's  part  to  connect  Jews  and  Freemasons  with  etc.,  etc. 

What  I  intended  to  convey  was  (i)  that,  as  in  Europe,  so  in 
Ireland,  anti-Catholic  journals  are  run  by  Freemasons  and  pos- 
sibly Jews: 

(2)  That  Jewish  and  Freemason  firms  in  these  countries  do  a 
large  business  in  manufacturing  and  selling  devotional  objects, 
beads,  scapulars,  etc.: 

(3)  That  Jewish  peddlers  through  the  country  are  often  agents 
for  the  sale  of  pornographic  literature. 

It  was  not  my  meaning  to  connect  this  latter  business  with  the 
newspapers  in  Dublin  or  in  Ireland. 

Would  you  kindly  modify  or  omit.?  These  papers  are  attract- 
ing a  good  deal  of  attention  in  Ireland:  and  I  see  the  necessity 
of  being  very  accurate  and  circumspect  in  what  I  publish,  especially 
as  I  cannot  see  proof. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.P. 


Chap.  IV]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  141 

When  eventually  the  author  of  My  New  Curate  was  being 
everywhere  heralded  as  a  genius  who  had  introduced  a 
new  type  into  English  literature,  the  question  of  the  author- 
ship began  to  be  openly  discussed.  As  it  became  gradually 
known  that  the  writer  was  the  parish  priest  of  Doneraile, 
congratulations  poured  in  upon  him,  and  he  was  being 
called  upon  by  visitors  at  home,  and  more  especially  from 
the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Australia.  The  clergy 
of  his  diocese  were  feeling  a  sense  of  pride  in  the  acclaim 
that  greeted  one  of  their  fellow  priests.  "The  Bishop," 
he  writes,  "is  taking  round  with  him  the  May  number, 
and  reading  it  at  the  Visitation  dinners  here  in  Cloyne." 

His  friend,  WilHam  O'Brien,  on  his  way  to  Malta,  writes: 

My  dear  Father  Patrick, 

I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  write  you  a  line  to  let  you 
know  how  far  the  fame  of  "My  New  Curate"  has  extended.  The 
Bishop  of  Mauritius,  Dr.  O'Neill,  who,  in  spite  of  his  name,  has 
never  been  in  Ireland,  is  on  board  and  he  told  me  that  your  book 
was  the  delight  of  many  a  lonely  hour  in  his  exile,  and  was  also 
read  and  re-read  a  dozen  times  over  by  the  four  or  five  Irish 
priests  who  have  established  themselves  in  his  diocese.  The 
rewards  of  Irish  authorship  are  not  so  numerous  that  one  should 
be  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  knowing  how  far  the  influence  of 
your  charming  story  has  made  itself  felt.  It  is  something  very 
different  indeed  from  vanity  to  have  the  consoling  knowledge 
that  you  have  been  the  means  of  giving  so  much  delight  to  so  many 
of  your  countrymen,  and  have  been,  so  to  say,  in  such  intimate 
communion  with  the  spirit  of  our  race,  I  find  my  own  feeling 
shared  everywhere  that  the  curate  for  all  his  perfections  is  not 
worth  the  hem  of  the  surplice  of  his  less  enterprising  but  oh,  so 
much  more  Irish  and  more  human  old  P.P. 

Although  the  public  outcry  for  "More"  is  often  one  of  the 
penalties  of  writing  a  successful  book,  I  hope,  and  indeed  am  quite 
sure,  that  the  pen  which  gave  us  "Father  Dan"  will  not  rest 
before  making  another  rich  addition  to  our  not  too  splendid 
national  literary  possessions.  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to  know 
that  the  sea  trip  thus  far  has  served  me  vastly,  and  that  I  have 
hope  of  returning  in  completely  restored  health. 

With  every  good  wish,  always  your  old  friend  and  schoolfellow, 

W.  O'Brien. 


142  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Mr.  O'Brien  was  quite  right.  The  author  of  "Daddy 
Dan"  was  not  to  rest  before  making  other  rich  additions 
to  the  national  literature  of  Ireland.  Father  Sheehan  had 
in  the  first  instance  taken  up  his  pen  from  the  conviction 
that  that  little  instrument  is  more  powerful  than  the  voice. 
"It  lasts  longer  and  reaches  farther.  The  litterateur  is  a 
greater  power  than  the  politician.  He  inspires  the  latter, 
and  outlasts  him."  As  a  proof  he  used  to  quote  the  fact 
that  it  was  by  his  writings  that  Rousseau  precipitated  the 
French  Revolution  and  survived  it;  and  he  was  fond  of 
saying  that  of  the  two  great  EngHshmen,  Newman  and 
Gladstone,  the  former  would  still  be  an  active  and  peren- 
nial force  when  men  shall  remember  the  latter  but  as  a 
name.  Moreover  he  was  convinced  that  moral  teaching 
lasts  longer  than  intellectuahsm,  and  is  far  more  fertile 
of  good.  "Supreme  intelligence  does  not  win  humanity." 
For  this  reason  he  not  only  made  writing  a  part  of  his  daily 
occupation,  but  urged  the  same  habit  on  those  whom  he 
was  able  to  influence.  He  did  not  beHeve  that  literature 
should  be  cultivated  for  its  own  sake,  as  an  art,  or  that  it 
was  an  inviting  field  for  a  career. 

All  successful  writers  are  unanimous  in  warning  off  young  as- 
pirants from  the  thorny  path  of  literature.  Grant  Allen  would 
give  them  a  broom  and  bid  them  take  to  crossing-sweeping. 
Gibbon,  de  Quincey,  Scott,  Southey,  Thackeray,  —  all  showed  the 
weals  and  lashes  of  the  hard  taskmaster.  Amongst  moderns 
Daudet  warns  that  brain  work  is  the  most  exacting  of  all  species 
of  labor,  and  must  eventuate,  sooner  or  later,  in  a  bad  break- 
down; Mr.  Zangwill  says  somewhat  grandiosely:  "Whoso  with 
blood  and  tears  would  dig  art  out  of  his  soul,  may  lavish  his  golden 
prime  in  pursuit  of  emptiness;  or  striking  treasure  find  only 
fairy-gold,  so  that  when  his  eye  is  purged  of  the  spell  of  morning, 
he  sees  his  hand  is  full  of  withered  leaves."  And  dear  old  Sam 
Johnson,  who  certainly  passed  through  his  Inferno  and  Purga- 
torio  before  he  settled  down  in  the  comfortable  paradise  of  Streat- 
ham,  epitomises  his  hardships  as  author  in  the  well  known  line: 

"Toil,  envy,  want,  the  patron,  and  the  gaol."  ^ 

^  Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars,  Part  II,  c. 


Chap.  IV]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  143 

He  knew  others,  however,  who  managed  to  make  fortune 
if  not  wealth  out  of  their  Hterary  pursuits  —  such  as  his 
favorite,  Jean  Paul,  who  saw  in  poverty  but  the  pain  of 
piercing  a  maiden's  ears  that  you  may  hang  the  precious 
jewels  in  the  wound.  Similarly  he  appraised  Balzac,  whose 
struggles  and  the  agonies  of  ill-spent  genius  became  the 
occasion  of  a  most  touching  sympathy,  as  revealed  in  the 
letters  of  his  sister  Laura.  On  the  other  hand  he  instanced 
Renan,  with  whom  literature  and  the  influence  of  a  sister 
were  for  evil.  His  judgment  upon  Pascal  as  a  disappointed 
litterateur  is  original  and  interesting: 

The  verdict  of  a  more  enlightened  age  than  ours  will  be  that 
Pascal  was  no  sceptic,  though  a  bold  enquirer;  that  his  mar- 
vellous mental  keenness  and  vigor  were  only  equalled  by  his  rigid 
asceticism;  that  nature  had  made  him  pious,  and  circumstances 
made  him  proud;  that  his  "Thoughts"  which  reveal  to  us  his 
inner  life  are  beautiful  and  deep  beyond  words;  that  they  would 
have  even  the  color  of  that  inspiration  which  comes  from  nature 
and  grace  united,  were  it  not  for  a  dark  shadow  which  stretches 
itself  over  all,  making  the  philosophy  of  them  less  clear,  the  truth 
of  them  less  apparent,  the  study  of  them  a  task  of  anxiety  and  sus- 
picion, instead  of  being  one  of  edification  and  delight.  When 
the  Provincial  Letters  are  forgotten  or  neglected  as  splenetic 
sarcasm,  and  have  passed  away  like  the  Junius  and  Drapier 
Letters,  or  have  become  but  the  study  of  the  connoisseur,  his 
Pensees  will  remain  broken  fragments  of  an  incomplete  but  im- 
mortal work.  ^ 

The  serial  My  New  Curate  was  gaining  in  popularity  as 
it  was  drawing  to  its  completion.  The  Irish  bishops  were 
commending  it  to  each  other  and  to  the  clergy. 

Dear  Father  Sheehan, 

Dr.  Keyes  O'Dogherty,  Bishop  of  Derry,  was  here  yesterday. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  dined  lately  with  the  Bishop  of  Liverpool, 
Dr.  Whiteside,  who  spoke  of  "My  New  Curate"  as  the  best 
written  and  most  interesting  thing  of  the  day.  Dr.  O'Dogherty 
got  all  the  numbers  from  some  priest  and  then  wrote  to  Dr.  White- 
side that  he  agreed  with  him.     The  Bishop  of  Derry  did  not  know 

^  Ibid.,  CIV. 


144  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

it  was  you  till  I  told  him.     A  good  omen  for  "The  Triumph  of 
Failure." 

Ever  yours  sincerely, 

M.  Russell,  S.J. 

As  Father  Sheehan  had  intimated  that  he  would  have 
in  all  probability  some  leisure  to  write  during  the  winter 
months,  a  new  serial  as  a  continuation  of  the  experiences 
of  Father  Letheby,  under  the  title  "My  Old  Pastors,"  was 
proposed  to  him  by  the  editor.  It  would  give  the  reverse 
of  the  medal,  and  leave  room  for  further  discussion  of  the 
exploits  of  the  curates.     To  this  he  repHed: 

With  regard  to  your  suggestion  of  attempting  a  new  series 
under  the  heading  "My  Old  Pastors,"  I  can  see  no  difficulty  about 
it,  except  that  I  am  pressed  for  time.  I  think  I  could  continue 
the  series,  as  you  desire,  introducing  them  with  a  note  from  the 
clerical  executors  of  Father  Dan  to  the  effect  that  they  have 
rushed  these  foregoing  papers  through  the  press  because  they 
heard  that  the  Rev.  Charles  Letheby  was  about  to  issue  a  series 
of  papers  entitled  "My  Old  Pastor,"  and  they  thought  it  best 
to  let  Fr.  Dan  speak  for  himself  first.  This  would  introduce  the 
new  series  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Letheby:  and  I  could  bring  in  a 
good  deal  of  my  experience  in  English  missions. 


V 

"the  triumph  of  failure" 

IN  November  of  the  same  year,  1898,  The  Triumph  of 
Failure  was  published  by  Messrs.  Burns  and  Oates  of 
London.  Naturally  Father  Sheehan  was  anxious  about 
its  reception.  He  was  now  satisfied  to  have  his  name  at- 
tached to  his  writings,  for  the  popularity  of  My  New  Curate 
had  removed  the  apprehension  of  further  criticism.^  Father 
Russell,  as  usual,  was  ready  to  see  that  the  book  should 
get  due  notice  from  the  men  of  the  press.  In  November 
he  writes: 

Nov.  8,  '98. 
St.  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin. 

My  dear  Father  Sheehan: 

...  I  hope  your  novel  will  find  kind  and  gifted  critics.  We 
must  take  pains  to  get  it  reviewed  (and  I  have  never  yet  thanked 
you  for  your  fine  Cork  review  of  St.  Joseph  of  Jesus  and  Mary). 

You  spoke  of  using  my  cheque  as  the  price  of  certain  copies. 
If  you  do  not  let  it  stand  as  part  of  your  next  remittance,  let  it 
procure  us  plenty  of  presentation  and  review  copies,  and  bid 
Burns  and  Oates  send  to  yourself  as  many  as  you  are  likely  to  be 
able  to  utilize  for  these  purposes.  Even  a  country  newspaper's 
review  is  far  better  than  an  advertisement  which  costs  a  good 
deal  and  which  few  read. 

Miss  Katherlne  Conway  of  The  Boston  Pilot  comes  to  Mor- 
rison's Hotel,  Dawson  St.,  to-night,  en  route  from  Rome  to  the 
Hub.  She  will  be  here  for  ten  days.  She  too  must  review  The 
Triumph  of  Failure.  When  will  it  be  out.?  No  sign  of  Rosa 
Gilbert's  NannOy  though  in  type  this  month  or  more. 

Yours  ever  affectionately, 
M.  Russell,  S.J. 

^  About  this  time  the  hitherto  anonymous  edition  of  Geoffrey  Austin  was  re- 
issued with  a  new  title  page  bearing  the  author's  name. 

14s 


146  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Again,  a  month  later: 

86  St.  Stephen's  Green, 
University  College,  Dublin. 

Dec.  18. 

My  dear  Fr.  Sheehan, 

Though  I  am  "out"  since  Friday,  I  have  had  a  great  accumu- 
lation of  business  to  get  through  and  I  have  done  hardly  anything 
for  The  Triumph  of  Failure.  I  gave  a  copy  to  Mr.  Wm.  P.  C. 
whose  review  will  appear  in  the  Freeman's  Journal  very  soon, 
perhaps  tomorrow.  I  gave  a  copy  to  Thomas  Arnold  to-day 
when  he  brought  me  an  interesting  letter  from  his  daughter  Mrs. 
Humphrey  Ward  about  Mr.  Charles  Water's  criticism  of  Helbeck 
of  Bannisdale.  She  accepts  many  of  his  criticisms  as  fair.  I  will 
send  her  The  Triumph  of  Failure. 

You  speak  of  Dr.  Wm.  Barry  and  Mr.  F.  Egan  of  the  Catholic 
University,  Washington.  Have  you  sent  them  copies  .f'  You 
ought,  and  with  letters, 

I  will  ask  you  —  but  no,  it  will  be  enough  for  me  to  get  from 
the  publishers  a  list  of  the  review-copies  sent  out.  In  supply- 
ing other  journals  besides,  you  and  I  would  not,  I  think,  look  in 
the  same  directions.  Miss  Katherine  Conway  of  the  Boston 
Pilot  would  be  one  of  my  selections. 

The  Academy  always  puts  before  its  Brief  Mention  Notices  an 
announcement  that  fuller  reviews  of  a  selection  of  these  books 
will  be  given  hereafter.  Your  book  is  announced  as  A  Story 
of  strong  Roman  Catholic  interest.  The  hero  writes  towards 
the  end:  "I  am  writing  these  memories  .  .  .  the  white,  stained 
face  of  my  Mother." 

I  am  sure  you  will  get  a  long  notice  hereafter.  They  gave  me 
a  very  fine  review  this  week  of  Nanno,  with  a  beautiful  picture  of 
Lady  Gilbert,  though  they  had  given  before  a  short  notice  like 
yours. 

In  great  haste 

With  best  Christmas  Wishes 

Yours  affectionately 

Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Miss  Conway  did  not  review  The 
Triumph  of  Failure.  "It  was  too  high  for  me,"  she  wrote; 
which  probably  meant  that  she  did  not  think  it  reached 
up  to  the  standard  of  My  New  Curate.    She  wrote  to  Father 


Chap.  V]       "THE  TRIUMPH  OF   FAILURE"  147 

Sheehan  telling  him  that  she  believed  his  particular  talent 
as  a  writer  lay  in  his  candid  revelation  of  the  English- 
speaking  priest.  She  thought  his  pen  was  needed  in  this 
particular  field  because  it  was  unique  therein.  To  her 
frank  charge  he  replied  that  he  had  been  tempted  to  aban- 
don the  portrayal  of  clerical  characters  because  many 
amongst  his  friends  and  acquaintances  had  set  them- 
selves to  identifying  from  his  contemporaries  some  of  the 
men  who  figured  in  his  books.  It  troubled  him;  he  feared 
to  give  pain,  and  he  was  almost,  if  not  quite,  persuaded  to 
write  no  more  in  the  same  fine.  In  reply  she  argued  that 
the  suggested  identifications  were  only  proof  of  the  life- 
like qualities  of  his  priests.^ 

Father  Russell  again  takes  up  the  subject  of  The  Triumph 
of  Failure  in  the  following: 

University  College,  Dublin 
My  dear  Father  Sheehan, 

Mr.  Coyne  told  me  to-day  that  he  had  at  last  arranged  with 
Mr.  Brayden  to  be  the  Freeman  reviewer  of  "The  Triumph  of 
Failure."  Mr.  Robert  Donovan  had  undertaken  it.  He  is  a  good 
writer  but  dilatory.     Mr.  Brayden  will  warn  him  off. 

Fr.  Henry  Browne,  S.J.,  of  this  house  (who  has  always  admired 
"Geoffrey  Austin")  has  written  a  wonderful  study  of  the  new 
book  which  has  been  offered  to  Dr.  Hogan  for  the  Irish  Ecclesi- 
astical Record.  No  time  for  an  answer  yet  —  unless  it  came  this 
evening.  If  not  accepted,  I  will  send  it  to  John  J.  O'Shea  for  the 
American  Catholic  ^arterly. 

Fr.  Browne  is  going  to  Castle  island,  Fermoy,  and  Buttevant 
in  the  next  few  days,  and  may  cross  your  path. 

In  great  haste, 

Yrs.  AfF'ly, 

M.  Russell,  S.J. 

The  promised  reviews  did  not  all  turn  out  to  be  favorable 
to  the  author. 

^  Some  of  the  appreciative  criticisms  of  Miss  Conway's  books  in  Irish  journals 
are  from  Canon  Sheehan's  pen. 


148  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

St.  Stephen's  Green, 
University  College,  Dublin. 
Jan.  3,  1899. 

My  dear  Fr.  Sheehan, 

God  bless  you  for  that  best  of  Christmas  boxes,  a  renewed 
subscription  to  The  Irish  Monthly. 

I  am  very  glad  you  have  the  humility  and  good  sense  to  take 
in  good  part  such  criticism  as  William  Coyne's.  Dr.  Barry's  in 
The  Catholic  Times  will  serve  your  book  immensely.  It  can  hardly 
be  in  the  issue  printing  or  printed  at  this  moment  —  from  the 
manner  in  which  he  speaks  of  it  in  his  letter  of  this  morning. 
He  repeats  to  me  all  the  praise  that  you  shrank  from  re- 
porting. 

I  will  ask  from  Burns  and  Oates  the  names  of  the  15  American 
journals  supplied  with  review-copies,  that  I  may  ask  Miss  Conway 
of  the  Boston  Pilot  to  watch  them.  She  herself  must  write  a  full 
review. 

Burns  and  Oates  did  not  supply  The  Independent  —  yes,  they 
supplied  Nation  and  Irish  Catholic,  not  knowing  perhaps  that 
they  have  the  same  office  and  staff.  I  have  just  written,  therefore, 
to  Mr.  D.  to  poke  him  up;  and  I  have  sent  a  copy  to  Mr.  John 
O'Mahony  (of  Cork)  to  review  in  The  Independent. 

At  Mr.  Gill's  and  also  at  Clery  and  Co.'s  I  was  told  the  book  was 
selling  well. 

Ever,  dear  Fr.  Sheehan, 
Yours  sincerely, 

Matthew  Russell. 

Will  you  take  Fr.  Hudson  at  his  word  and  send  a  paper  to  the 
Ave  Maria?     They  pay. 

How  hopeful  he  was  at  this  time  as  to  the  reception  of 
The  Triumph  of  Failure  in  America  may  be  gleaned  from 

the  following  letter: 

Doneraile,  Co.  Cork. 

January  7,  1899. 

My  dear  Father  Heuser: 

Your  letter  just  to  hand,  with  enclosure.  Very  many  thanks 
for  all  your  kind  and  encouraging  words,  which  are  a  powerful 
stimulus  to  fresh  exertions.  I  am  quite  disappointed  to  hear  that 
my  book  has  not  yet  reached  you  ...  I  am  happy  to  say  it  is 
attracting  some  notice  at  this  side.  All  the  papers  have  been 
very  kind,  and  extended  articles  will  appear  in  the  New  Ireland 


Chap.  V]      "THE  TRIUMPH  OF  FAILURE"  149 

Review,  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  etc.  Dr.  William  Barry, 
of  Dorchester,  Oxford,  is  taking  it  up  warmly,  and  is  writing  a 
long  notice  of  it.  But  I  look  to  America  for  the  success  of 
the  book. 

Father  Sheehan  was  much  encouraged  by  the  sym- 
pathetic appreciation  of  his  friend  Canon  William  Barry. 
In  a  letter  of  December  28,  1898,  Dr.  Barry,  after  reading 
The  Triumph  of  Failurey  wrote  from  Dorchester: 

Long  before  I  had  reached  the  end  it  was  clear  to  me  that  no 
book  of  anything  like  the  importance  which  yours  may  claim, 
had  appeared  from  Ireland  for  years. 

I  wrote  this  morning  The  Catholic  Times  proposing  a  long  re- 
view (signed)  which  I  begged  them  to  put  in  a  prominent  place. 
This,  I  am  hoping,  will  be  out  next  week;  and  the  American  papers 
are  sure  to  copy  or  give  extracts.  It  is  hard  to  know  what  one 
should  attempt  with  non-Catholic  magazines.  But  somewhere 
an  opening  must  be  found  ...  Of  course  the  secularist  instinct, 
now  widespread,  is  likely  to  put  editors  on  their  guard  against 
so  downright  a  Catholic  treatment  of  your  subject.  They  will 
stand  anything  as  literature;  religion  is  another  story. 

Dr.  Barry  confesses  that  he  had  not  yet  read  Geoffrey 
Austin. 

It  is  a  sin  which  can  be  atoned  for;  and  I  shall  soon  know  all 
about  Geoffrey;  and  your  loveable  and  truly  Irish  Charlie  who 
will  be  henceforth  a  friend  of  mine  .  .  .  Helen  Bellamy  says 
with  terrible  exactness  that  Irishmen  have  no  imagination.  I 
have  thought  they  had  no  power  of  setting  down  on  paper  what 
you  describe  as  "introspection";  that  they  could  shoot  and  drink 
and  joke  and  make  love  and  say  their  prayers  and  be  very  de- 
lightful; but  as  children  they  dream;  and  don't  know  that  they 
dream.  Your  touching  story  is  a  dream;  but  conscious  of  itself 
—  not  self  conscious.  I  should  be  doing  it  wrong  to  treat  it  as 
empty  literature.  There  are  words  on  some  of  its  pages  that 
come  home  to  me,  and  express  certain  intimate  feelings  vividly 
as  I  know  them;  and  what  more  could  the  supreme  poet  achieve.? 
I  mean  poet  in  the  most  serious  sense  —  vates,  the  prophet  that 
teaches  in  music  .  .  .  but,  as  I  say,  it  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the 
world  to  conquer  the  steep  escarpment  which  you  have  chosen. 


I50  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE    [Part  II 

He  adverts  in  particular  to  Father  Sheehan's  citations 
from  St.  Ephrem's  Homilies  which  Father  Morris  had 
rendered  admirably,  and  ends: 

Confirma  hoc,  Deus,  quod  operatus  es  in  nobis  —  that,  my 
dear  Father,  is  the  prayer  I  put  up  for  you  and  myself  from  a 
heart  as  Irish  as  is  your  own,  and  with  feelings  of  hope  and  thank- 
fulness. 

In  his  article  for  The  Catholic  Times  Dr.  Barry  calls 
upon  Irish  and  English  Catholics  to  "read,  mark,  learn, 
and  inwardly  digest  the  moral  of  the  book." 

Whilst  The  Triumph  of  Failure  was  an  accepted  success 
as  a  novel  it  did  not  escape  severe,  if  discriminating,  criti- 
cism in  so  far  as  it  proposed  theological  reforms.  Some  of 
these  came  from  not  unfriendly  sources.  Father  George 
O'Neill,  S.J.,  writing  in  the  New  Ireland  Review,^  con- 
tended that  the  stress  which  the  latter  had  laid  upon  the 
paganizing  tendency  of  the  study  of  the  old  classics  was 
somewhat  overdrawn.  He  maintained  that  the  essential 
Catholic  atmosphere,  at  least  in  the  Irish  colleges,  acted 
as  a  sufficient  antidote  to  any  serious  harm  that  could 
result  from  the  study  of  the  old  models  of  rhetoric,  even 
if  the  teacher  failed  to  point  out  the  contrast  between  them 
and  Christian  doctrine.  In  a  letter  of  February  7,  1899, 
Father  Russell  bids  the  author  "not  to  take  Father  O'Neill's 
review  too  seriously.  I  think  it  will  do  us  good  instead  of 
harm.  I  will  not  say  a  word  to  him  about  your  letter.  He 
says  strong  things  in  your  favor." 

Abroad,  the  book  was  everywhere  well  received.  The 
Indo-European  Correspondence  of  Bombay  had  an  excep- 
tionally flattering  review;  and  "some  Berlin  publishers," 
writes  Father  Sheehan,  "are  negotiating  for  a  translation." 

Some  critics  have  thought  The  Triumph  of  Failure  the 
best  of  Canon  Sheehan's  literary  efforts.  He  himself  in- 
clined in  that  direction;  though  there  were  times  when  he 
thought  otherwise.     There  is  no  doubt  that  he  took  more 

^  Father  O'Neill,  S.J.,  author  of  Ireland  the  Teacher  of  England  and  Scotland, 
later  on  became  a  great  admirer  of  Canon  Sheehan's  literary  genius. 


Chap.  V]      "THE  TRIUMPH  OF  FAILURE"  151 

pains  with  its  literary  workmanship  than  he  did  with  any 
of  his  other  books.  The  story  in  union  with  Geoffrey  Austin 
has  two  concurrent  morals.  It  pleads  for  the  infusion,  as 
has  already  been  said  in  speaking  of  his  first  book,  of  more 
reUgion  into  our  classical  and  professional  studies.  And 
it  shows  also  the  influence  a  child  may  exercise  upon  the 
formation  of  a  man's  character  and  entire  Hfe.  As  Dickens 
appeals  most  to  our  sympathy  through  child  characters 
hke  Little  Nell,  Little  Dorritt,  Florence  Dombey,  so  Father 
Sheehan  rivets  our  interest  in  these  two  stories  by  making 
the  two  figures  of  Little  Ursula  and  Charlie  Travers  shine 
forth,  as  if  woven  into  it  with  threads  of  gold.  For  the 
sake  of  making  clearer  Father  Sheehan's  ultimate  purpose 
in  all  his  subsequent  pedagogical  work,  I  may  here  sum- 
marize the  plot  of  the  story  that  runs  through  these  two 
volumes : 

A  young  lad,  anxious  to  make  his  way  in  the  world,  is 
sent  by  his  guardian,  who  is  at  the  same  time  his  parish 
priest,  to  a  private  Catholic  school  in  Ireland.  Here  he  is 
to  be  prepared  for  the  English  Civil  Service  examinations. 
The  boy  is  impressionable,  talented,  high-spirited,  and 
inclined  to  assimilate  the  ideals,  particularly  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  classics,  set  before  him  by  his  teachers.  Al- 
though he  completes  his  course  at  college  with  credit,  he 
fails  in  the  Civil  Service  test.  Thus  he  finds  himself  un- 
expectedly without  any  definite  aim  in  the  struggle  for 
existence. 

It  is  at  this  stage  of  his  life  that  we  meet  the  youth  in 
the  opening  chapter  of  The  Triumph  of  Failure.  He  has 
secured  board  and  lodging  in  a  back  room  of  a  snug  little 
house  in  one  of  the  suburbs  of  DubHn.  A  mental  audit  of 
his  personal  condition  reveals  to  him  the  following: 

To  my  credit  I  could  place  youth  and  strength,  a  splendid  con- 
stitution, a  fairly  liberal  education,  a  love  for  learning,  and  80 
pounds,  the  balance  left  after  my  expenses  in  Mayfield  and  London, 
and  which  my  guardian  sent  me,  at  my  own  request,  on  my  re- 
turn after  my  failure  at  the  Control  examination.  On  the  debit- 
side  could  be  placed  the  dismal  failure,  the  cause  which  led  up 


152  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

to  it,  my  utter  inexperience  of  life,  and  a  disposition  very  prone 
to  extreme  and  abnormal  depression,  or  the  reverse.  I  should 
add  to  my  credit  account  a  small  but  select  library;  to  my  debit- 
account,  alas,  a  faith  and  religious  feeling  theoretically  intact, 
practically  shattered  and  undermined. 

Next  he  records  his  first  experience  in  the  effort  to  obtain 
suitable  employment,  the  cold-hearted  and  professional 
indifference  to  his  condition  in  a  world  which  he  had  en- 
tered with  buoyant  hopes.  **It  was  with  a  sinking  heart, 
after  a  few  dismal  failures,  that  I  put  on  my  overcoat  one 
morning,  drew  on  my  faded  gloves,  and  stepped  into  the 
dripping  streets  in  search  of  some  decent  employment  that 
would  merely  yield  me  a  competence."  The  rebuff  he  meets 
with  in  a  large  mercantile  estabhshment  where  his  appeal 
to  his  having  enjoyed  a  Hberal  education,  as  a  qualification 
for  a  sales-clerk,  is  derided  in  the  midst  of  sneering  employees, 
is  a  revelation  which  sharply  wounds  his  vanity  and  leaves 
him  utterly  despondent.  "I  went  home,  but  I  could  not 
rest  there.  I  took  up  my  favorite  philosophers,  Seneca 
and  Marcus  Aurelius.  Their  poor  platitudes  irritated  rather 
than  soothed  me."  He  goes  out  again  into  the  streets, 
angry  with  himself  and  with  the  world.  Stopping  at  a 
bookseller's  window  he  mechanically  leans  on  the  brass 
railing  and  looks  at  the  titles  of  the  books,  reading  in  them 
nothing  but  hostility  to  mankind  and  the  bitterness  of 
revenge. 

Thus  I  raged,  leaning  on  one  hand  my  burning  forehead,  the 
other  hung  dead  at  my  side.  I  heeded  not  the  stream  of  people 
that  swept  by;  I  saw  but  my  passion  and  revenge,  when  some- 
thing soft  and  warm  stole  into  my  hand  and  rested  there.  I 
turned  round  and  saw  a  little  girl,  who  was  not  more  than  four 
years  old,  looking  wistfully  into  my  face.  Her  hand  still  nestled 
confidently  in  my  own. 

"Please,  sir,"  she  said,  "take  me  home." 

She  was  a  dainty  little  woman.  A  small  oval  face  was  lighted 
up  by  two  dark  brown  eyes,  where  the  peace  of  heaven  shone; 
and  her  black  hair,  with  some  curious  streaks  of  red  or  purple 
gleaming  through  it,  fell  in  even  curves  upon  her  temples.     She 


Chap.  V]      ''THE  TRIUMPH  OF  FAILURE"  153 

was  well  dressed,  and  a  dainty  little  sealskin  cap  (which  I  still 
hold,  and  which  I  would  not  part  with  for  all  the  diamonds  of 
Golconda,  and  which  shall  be  buried  with  me  wherever  it  pleases 
God  my  remains  shall  be  laid)  rested  lightly  on  her  white  forehead. 
I  know  not  what  she  saw  in  me  to  seek  my  confidence,  for  I  am 
sure  hell  was  pictured  in  my  face.  But  then  angels  are  not  sent 
to  angels.  Even  in  this,  God's  eternal  law,  the  law  of  contrasts, 
which  is  the  law  of  love,  was  maintained. 

But  a  miracle  was  wrought  in  me.  What  all  the  pagan  philoso- 
phy of  Greece  and  Rome  could  not  bring  about,  the  faith  and  con- 
fidence of  that  little  child  effected.  .  .  .  Even  so  the  touch  of 
that  little  hand  swept  from  my  soul  the  foul  fiend  that  possessed 
me,  and  I  resumed  in  one  moment  a  tranquillity  and  peace  to 
which,  for  the  last  two  days,  I  had  been  a  stranger.  I  closed  my 
hand  gently  over  the  soft,  warm  fingers. 

"Come,  little  one,"  I  said,  "we  will  go  home  together;  and  you 
shall  lead  me." 

All  through  his  subsequent  life  the  recollection  of  little 
Ursula's  face  remained  the  guardian  of  his  nobler  nature. 
He  does  not  very  long  enjoy  her  sweet  prattle,  for  the 
child  soon  after  dies.  The  scene  of  her  death  is  described 
with  exquisite  pathos.  Her  spirit  hovers  about  him,  for 
she  had  promised  him  in  her  innocent  simplicity  that  she 
would  come  back  to  tell  him  all  about  heaven. 

"And,  Mamma,"  she  said,  making  her  last  will,  "you'll  dive 
DofF  my  —  my  prayer  book  and  my  beads;    and  —  and  —  " 

The  little  mind  was  wandering  now,  and  my  heart  was  tugging 
away,  like  a  wild  beast  in  its  cage.  Good  God!  What  a  load  of 
sorrow  lies  on  this  weary  world !  .  .  . 

I  remained  in  the  house  that  night.  There  was  no  sleep  for 
them  or  me.  When  morning  came  Ursula  was  better,  and  I 
went  to  work  with  a  light  heart.  But  all  day  long,  as  I  bent  over 
that  weary  catalogue  and  marshalled  those  dreary  ill-smelling 
books,  the  thought  of  the  little  child  choking  to  death,  overcame 
me,  and  my  tears  fell  fast  and  free  on  the  page  ...  At  six  o'clock 
I  was  scudding  across  the  city,  with  hope  fighting  in  my  heart 
against  desperate  forebodings  of  evil.  There  was  a  deeper  hush 
on  the  house  when  I  entered  —  the  indefinable  silence  that  means 
but  one  thing.     The  angel  of  death  had  come  and  stood  by  the 


154  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Angel  of  Sorrow.  Yes,  I  needed  not  the  tears  of  the  sorrow- 
stricken  mother,  nor  the  blank  white  face  of  Hubert  Deane,  to 
know  that  the  child  who  had  rescued  me  from  sin,  and  who  had 
been  sent  from  heaven  to  teach  me  some  of  the  deeper  meanings 
of  life,  was  now  resting  on  a  safer  and  sweeter  bosom  than  mine. 
I  saw  her  —  and  if  I  am  not  profane,  I  envied  my  God  His  treasure 
—  on  the  bosom  of  Him  who  had  said:  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  to  Me.  The  little  face  was  waxen,  and  showed  no  trace 
of  the  agony  which  my  pet  had  suffered.  The  waxen  petals  of 
her  fingers  were  intertwined,  and  her  rosary,  my  rosary  now,  was 
woven  between  them. 

Time  cast  Geoffrey's  lot  in  rough  places  during  the  sub- 
sequent years,  and  taught  him  the  weakness  of  that  sup- 
port which  his  own  pride  and  his  pagan  philosophy  had 
pretended,  but  were  not  able,  to  bring  him  in  his  hour  of 
need. 

Amidst  his  deepest  degradation  he  unexpectedly  comes 
in  contact  with  a  former  fellow  student,  Charles  Travers, 
who  has  embraced  a  career  of  self-sacrifice  in  the  cause  of 
moral  reform,  similar  to  that  which  Ozanam  and  the 
founders  of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  had  inaugu- 
rated in  France.  Geoffrey  compares  his  own  life  with  that 
of  his  friend.  The  difference  is  one  of  day  and  night.  He 
is  forced  to  reflect  and  inquire  into  the  causes  of  this  con- 
trast, and  finds  them  to  be,  not  accidents  but  principles. 
Austin  feels  gradually  stealing  over  him  the  influence  of 
the  wonderful  power  exercised  by  Travers,  whose  habits 
of  life  had  been  directed  by  a  deeply  spiritual-minded  priest, 
Father  Aidan.  This  priest,  having  found  in  the  youth 
the  instinct  and  courage  to  follow  the  higher  path  of  re- 
nunciation, strove  to  develop  all  that  was  strong  and  holy 
in  the  young  soul;  and  to  harden  and  anneal  as  by  fire 
all  that  was  weak  and  sensitive.  Then  came  the  time  for 
action,  and  suddenly,  before  men  were  capable  of  realizing 
whence  the  energy  proceeded,  Charles  Travers  showed 
that  he  was  capable  of  subduing  and  swaying,  by  his  elo- 
quence and  direction,  the  destinies  of  thousands,  and  to 
impart  to  their  souls  that  peace  which  is  to  be  found  only 


Chap.  V]      "THE  TRIUMPH  OF  FAILURE"  155 

in  self-sacrifice.  Travers  dies  at  the  very  time  when,  after 
seeming  failure  and  unrequited  struggle,  the  work  he  had 
fostered  has  reached  its  zenith  of  success.  He  takes  no 
part  in  the  triumph  on  earth,  whilst  the  fruits  of  his  vic- 
tory are  being  reaped  by  others. 

It  is  the  last  of  many  proofs  which  Geoffrey  had  wit- 
nessed, that  the  triumphs  of  the  saints,  the  triumphs  of 
religion,  though  failures  often  enough  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  are  real  and  lasting,  whilst  the  victories  of  science, 
of  civilization,  of  society,  are  only  apparent  or  temporary, 
and  afford  no  genuine  basis  of  peace  even  in  this  world. 
Success  is  not  the  mark  of  progress. 

And  so,  running  like  some  secret  magic  through  all  human 
history,  inexplicable,  powerful,  elusive  of  all  human  efforts  to 
analyze  it,  compelling  an  unwilling  admiration,  or  extorting  an 
unreasonable  fear,  potent  for  good,  destructive  of  evil,  the  spiritual 
essence  and  mission  of  the  Church  unfolds  itself.  And  whether 
seen  in  the  quiet  life  of  some  such  saint  and  apostle  as  Charles 
Travers,  or  exhibited  on  larger  lines  in  some  great  evolution  that 
touches  the  sympathies  or  awakens  the  fears  of  men,  the  same 
uniform  and  unvarying  issues  startle  the  world  into  a  momentary 
faith  in  the  supernatural.  For  on  no  other  ground  can  it  in- 
terpret or  explain  that  which  is  known  in  Christian  history  and 
ethics  as  the  conquest  of  the  learned  by  the  foolish,  of  the  powerful 
by  the  weak,  of  the  great  ones  by  the  little  —  in  a  word,  that 
apparent  defeat  which  has  marked  all  God's  dealings  with  His 
world  through  His  Church,  which  in  reality,  as  time  develops 
His  designs,  is  seen  to  be  perfect  and  ultimate  victory;  and  which 
therefore  we  have  ventured  to  designate  —  The  Triumph  of 
Failure. 

Geoffrey  Austin  himself  learns  the  lesson  well.  He 
eventually  seeks  a  success  that  knows  no  disappointment, 
and  goes  in  search  of  peace  such  as  the  world  cannot  give 
—  in  the  cell  of  the  cloister.  There  we  leave  him  happy,  as 
a  priest  in  the  service  of  God  and  his  brethren. 

It  is  a  beautiful  story,  told  with  all  the  literary  grace, 
vividness  of  scene,  and  wealth  of  scattered  erudition  gained 
from  the   author's  study  of  the  classical  writers.     Father 


156  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Sheehan  shows  clearly,  and  with  great  felicity,  that,  to 
educate  youth  for  actual  life,  it  is  not  enough  to  fill  their 
minds  with  knowledge  and  with  admiration  for  classical 
learning;  but  that,  if  the  teacher  would  uphold  the  tradi- 
tion of  pagan  ideals,  old  or  new,  as  models  in  education, 
he  must  make  these  ideals  instinct  with  the  religious  spirit 
that  gives  them  true  Hfe  and  not  merely  antiquarian 
record-value. 


VI 

"my  new  curate"  appears  in  book  form 

To  return  to  My  New  Curate,  which  had  meanwhile 
run  on  serially  to  its  conclusion  in  The  Ecclesiastical 
Review.  In  October,  1899,  the  editor  was  able  to 
assure  Father  Sheehan  that  "there  will  be  no  difficulty  about 
finding  a  publisher  for  My  New  Curate.  ...  If  you  paint 
the  sequel,  My  Old  Pastors,  in  the  same  colors,  we  shall  have 
two  books  for  the  clergy,  containing  the  sum  total  of  Pastoral 
Theology  in  a  form  that  is  not  only  illuminans  intellectum 
but  (what  is  not  done  by  the  ordinary  text-books)  movens 
voluntatem."     Again  in  December  he  was  informed: 

American  Ecclesiastical  Review, 

OVERBROOK.,   Pa. 

December  29,  1898.* 

Dear  Father  Sheehan, 

My  New  Curate  has  now  become  the  talk  here  everywhere 
among  the  clergy  (and  a  good  portion  of  the  laity  who  keep  in 
touch  with  matters  ecclesiastical).  I  hope  that  you  will,  now 
that  we  have  found  you  out  (and  introduced  your  pleasant  self 
to  the  sanctum  of  the  Eccl.  Review),  remain  thoroughly  domesti- 
cated. Indeed  nothing  delights  me  much  more  than  the  reflec- 
tion that  I  once  forecast  —  from  the  evidence  offered  by  Geoffrey 
Austin  —  your  strong  points  with  absolute  fidelity,  as  demon- 
strated by  present  results.  The  last  time  I  was  in  Belgium  I 
was  much  in  company  of  one  of  our  most  cultured  bishops  from 
America.  One  day  I  handed  him  your  volume,  saying:  If  this 
writer  were  to  select  clerical  types  for  his  story,  he  would  in- 
augurate a  new  and  most  fruitful  departure  in  Catholic  literature. 
...  I  propose  to  ask  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co.,  here  (of  the 
London  and  Bombay  firm)  to  publish  your  book  and  will  let  you 
know  what  they  say  as  soon  as  I  can  make  some  headway.  .  .  . 

*  Marked  by  Canon  Sheehan,  "Received,  Jan.  7,  1899." 
157 


158  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

It  was  only  to  be  expected  that  he  would  be  dehghted 
with  all  the  success  that  made  him  a  thousand  friends,  as 
it  were,  overnight,  whereas  he  had  been  ignored  a  little 
while  before.  Although  he  gave  full  expression  to  this 
satisfaction,  he  reflected  on  the  conditions  which  put  a 
Catholic  author  at  the  mercy  of  seeming  accidents.  If 
Father  Sheehan  enjoyed  his  triumph,  it  did  not  alter  his 
philosophy  that  success  is  not  the  sign  of  progress.  The 
man  who  sets  out  to  labor  for  the  salvation  of  souls  may  not 
always  divest  himself  of  the  vanity  which  causes  him  to 
relish  human  applause.  None  the  less  he  will  not  make 
popular  favor  the  standard  of  his  judgments  and  appre- 
ciations. 

But  there  was  another  consideration  that  tended  to 
keep  his  spirit  humble.  It  arose  from  the  fact  that  his 
literary  success  belonged  to  a  sphere  which  he  considered 
secondary  to  that  of  his  duties  in  the  sacred  ministry. 
Writing  was  a  mode  of  preaching;  but  apart  from  this  it 
was  a  mere  recreation  with  him.  If  success  in  this  sphere 
pleased  him,  it  also  called  forth  reflections  that  aroused  a 
new  sense  of  responsibility.  He  wrapped  up  the  glory 
of  his  new-won  literary  fame  and  laid  it  away,  as  did  old 
"Daddy  Dan"  when  he  put  by  the  robes  of  his  canonical 
dignity. 

As  his  first  serial  drew  to  a  conclusion.  Father  Sheehan 
began  to  prepare  the  sequel.  This  was  to  embody  his 
experiences  on  the  English  mission  at  Plymouth  and  Exeter. 
It  off"ered  new  material,  not  merely  in  point  of  priestly 
activity,  but  in  diff"erent  characteristics  and  scenes  of 
land  and  people. 

DoNERAiLE,  March  13,  '99. 

My  Dear  Father  Heuser, 

Most  grateful  thanks  for  your  letter  and  enclosure;  for  the 
extra  numbers  you  have  sent  me;  but  above  aU  for  your  kind, 
encouraging  words,  which  are  worth  more  than  gold.  Your 
critique  of  my  book  was  admirable.  Altogether  I  have  reason 
to  be  most  grateful.  Your  remarks  about  Dr.  Barry  have  been 
echoed  here  by  very  many  gifted   and  holy  priests  ...  He  is 


Chap.  VI]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  159 

supporting  his  church  and  mission  by  his  pen,  and  just  now  he  is 
threatened  with  a  bad  breakdown  in  health  and  must  go  abroad. 
I  have  written  to  him  strongly  urging  him  to  take  up  the  line  of 
Christian  apologetics;  but  he  answers:  who  will  read  him  in  the 
department.  Yet  as  in  the  case  of  the  "Two  Standards"  he  is 
able,  by  Protestant  sympathy,  to  get  an  edition  of  4000  copies  off 
his  hands  before  it  is  in  print.  I  assure  you  (comparing  small 
things  with  great)  my  experience  is  almost  similar.  For  the  years 
I  was  writing  for  the  /.  E.  Record  I  never  received  one  word  of 
encouragement.  You  and  my  dear  friend  Fr.  Russell  are  the  only 
priests  that  have  ever  said  a  kindly  word  of  my  work  hitherto. 
Now  I  am  on  the  full  swing  of  the  tide;  and  my  last  book  has 
made  me  a  thousand  friends.  But  it  was  weary  work;  only  I 
felt  that  I  was  working  for  our  Lord,  and  He  would  reward  me. 
And  He  has,  a  thousandfold.  But  venturing  into  the  field  of 
Catholic  literature  is  a  greater  risk  than  many  are  aware  of;  and 
many  a  writer  can  say,  as  Dr.  Barry  says,  "aquae  inundave- 
runt  animam  meam." 

Probably  I  shall  stretch  out  My  New  Curate  a  few  chapters 
further  than  I  intended;  as  I  want  to  make  the  end  interesting. 
And  then,  with  your  permission,  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  open  a 
new  series  entitled: 

YE  SHEPHERDS 

Being  the  Harvest  of  a  Quiet  Eye 

this  time  to  be  told  in  the  third  person,  and  commencing 
with  experiences  of  English  missionary  life.  Probably  I  could 
give  you  the  first  chapters  for  September.  You  may  of  course 
have  a  more  attractive  series  to  offer.  I  hope  you  will.  But 
you  will  let  me  know  in  time. 

I  am  happy  to  know  that  our  good  nuns  are  reading  my 
papers.  .  .  . 

And  now  thank  you  again  for  all  your  kindness,  for  your  spirit 
of  enterprise,  and  I  hope  under  heaven  that  you  may  be  the  means 
of  inaugurating  quite  a  new  era  in  Catholic  literature. 

I  am,  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 
Yours  always  in  Xt., 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 


i6o  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

A  month  later  he  writes: 

Bridge  House,  Doneraile,  Co.  Cork. 
April  5,  '99. 

Dear  Father  Heuser, 

I  forward  by  this  mail  (Sunday  7th)  the  final  chapters  of  My 
New  Curate.  I  hope  you  will  find  them  a  worthy  termination 
of  the  serial.  I  ran  the  XXX  Chapter  so  far —  18  or  19  pages 
—  that  I  was  obliged  to  pull  up  the  last  abruptly.  Yet  I  like 
closing  a  story  with  a  certain  amount  of  dramatic  action. 

I  also  forward  printer's  proof  of  first  eighteen  chapters,  corrected 
for  press.  Should  you  think  advisable  to  give  English  transla- 
tions (as  footnotes)  of  the  Italian  and  Latin  quotations,  it  can 
be  done.  As  to  the  illustrations,  I  have  been  looking  for  photos 
that  might  suit  Father  Dan  and  F.  Letheby;  but  none  comes  up 
to  my  ideal.  And  I  find  that  most  readers  here  will  be  difficult 
to  please  in  that  matter,  where  faces  are  concerned.  Scenery 
of  course  is  easily  managed;  and  there  could  be  a  few  sacred 
pictures,  suggested  by  the  allusions,  here  and  there  in  the  book. 

I  am  just  recovering  from  a  sharp  feverish  cold;  and  much 
debilitated. 

Always  gratefully, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

In  a  postscript  to  the  above  letter  he  adds: 

I  have  a  lingering  hope  that  some  of  your  young  priests  may 
take  up  the  syllabus  of  subjects  (given  in  the  March  chapters) 
metaphysical  and  historical;  and  build  up  articles  for  you,  the 
same  as  I  have  suggested  for  Father  Letheby,  which  eventu- 
ally would  form  a  comprehensive  library  on  these  important 
subjects. 

Father  Charles  J.  Kelly,  D.D.,  diocese  of  Scranton,  Pa.,  called 
a  few  days  ago  to  see  the  author  of  "Daddy  Dan." 

Some  days  later  he  v^rites: 

You  have  taken  a  great  deal  of  trouble  about  my  book;  and  I 
cannot  see  that  I  can  do  better  than  leave  the  matter  unreservedly 
in  your  hands.  It  would  be  quite  impossible  for  me  to  form  an 
opinion  so  far  away  from  the  center  of  action.     But  it  seems  to 

me  that  M 's  offer  should  be  accepted,  unless  some  other,  more 

advantageous,  were  offered  before  publication.     The  only  person 
whom  I  consulted  about  the  matter  here  thought  that  it  would  be 


Chap.  VI]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  i6i 

better  to  retain  the  copyright,  and  arrange  only  for  edition  by 
edition;  but  I  dare  say  the  pubHshers  would  not  stereotype  under 
these  conditions.  .  .  . 

In  a  few  days  I  shall  forward  the  remaining  chapters  (of  the 
proof  sheets  for  the  printer  of  the  book).  This  will  leave  me  free 
for  evolving  the  ideas  of  "Ye  Shepherds." 

Should  good  fortune  waft  you  to  this  side  during  the  coming 
summer  or  autumn,  I  shall  take  it  for  granted  that  you  will  pay 
us  a  welcome  visit  here. 

I  am,  my  dear  Fr.  Heuser,  with  many  thanks, 

Yours  sincerely. 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

With  regard  to  the  publication  of  My  New  Curate  in 
book  form  it  seemed  that  the  author's  rights  would  be 
better  guarded  in  the  hands  of  a  reputable  publisher  than 
in  his  own. 

Accordingly  Father  Sheehan  was  advised  to  sell  the  copy- 
right for  his  first  popular  book;  for  as  he  was  prepared  to 
write  a  good  deal  more,  the  experience  would  guide  him 
after  that  in  following  the  better  course.  In  later  years  he 
found  it  to  be  to  his  advantage  to  sell  his  copyright,  and 
the  Longmans  have  since  then  published  nearly  all  his 
books. 

As  appears  from  the  following  note  Father  Sheehan 
definitely  decided  to  sell  the  copyright  under  the  condi- 
tions offered. 

DONERAILE,   Co.   CoRK. 

May  3,  '99. 

My  Dear  Father  Heuser, 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  and  enclosure  (£  12.)  for  which 
accept  my  hearty  thanks.  In  a  higher  degree  I  feel  intensely 
grateful  for  the  last  words  of  your  kind  letter,  assuring  me  that 
our  little  serial  has  gone  home  to  the  hearts  of  the  American  priest- 
hood, and  that  its  lessons  are  likely  to  fructify  there.  The  same 
mail  brought  me  a  letter  from  far  Melbourne,  assuring  me  of  the 
same  thing.  And  I  feel  very  humble,  and  most  grateful  to  our 
dear  Lord  that  He  has  chosen  such  a  weak  instrument  for  so  great 
a  work.  As  to  secular  fame,  I  should  hardly  value  it;  for  one  is 
always  tempted  to  cry: 


i62  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Fanitas  vanitatum. 

But  to  have  spoken  successfully  to  my  dear  brother  priests,  and 
to  have  won  their  affectionate  sympathy,  is  a  reward  I  have  never 
dreamed  of  expecting,  and  which  is  very  sweet  and  consoHng. 

When  Mr.  M writes,  I  shall  tell  him  he  can  have  the  copy- 
right, as  I  don't  care  to  have  too  many  burdens;  and  in  this  matter 
of  copyright  and  royalty,  I  shall  accept  his  terms,  already  offered. 

Let  me  add  that  your  Review,  has  earned  unstinted  praise  (or 
shall  I  say  its  editor)  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  for  its  enterprise 
in  rising  above  the  usual  leaden  level  of  Catholic  magazines.  It 
is  a  tremendous  lesson  to  many  of  our  home  journals. 

I  shall  gladly  accept  any  hints  as  to  the  future  series  which 
you  may  be  pleased  to  offer;  or  the  line  I  should  follow.  My 
Melbourne  friend  suggests  the  imperfections  and  drawbacks  in 
clerical  education,  but  I  feel  the  subject  is  overdone,  though  I 
have  a  few  papers  beside  me  on  the  subject. 

With  all  gratitude  and  good  wishes, 

I  remain,  my  dear  Father  Heuser, 
Yours  in  Xt. 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

DONERAILE,   Co.   CoRK. 

June  30,  1899. 

My  dear  Father  Heuser: 

The  American  mail  leaves  in  a  few  hours;  so  I  am  snatching  a 
brief  moment  to  thank  you  again  for  all  your  kindness. 

We  go  on  retreat  tomorrow;  and  then  I  go  to  England  for  a 
brief  holiday. 

As  I  said  before,  I  felt  quite  humbled  and  ashamed  at  all  the 
praise  my  few  papers  have  received.  But  my  reward  lies  not 
there,  for  I  know  only  too  well  what  a  passing  thing  is  human 
praise  or  blame.  But  I  feel  great  gratitude  toward  our  Lord  for 
His  having  vouchsafed  to  use  me  for  His  own  sacred  cause;  and 
it  is  a  large  and  generous  reward  to  be  assured,  as  I  have  been 
assured  so  many  times,  that  I  have  earned  the  good  will  and  af- 
fection of  the  American  priesthood,  whom  I  have  always  revered 
since  I  had  the  happiness  of  meeting  some  of  them,  during  my 
curacy  at  Queenstown.  This  week  again  Fr.  Yorke  of  San  Fran- 
cisco has  been  saying  kind  things  of  me  in  Maynooth;  and  yester- 
day I  had  a  charming  letter  from  one  of  your  best  contributors, 
Fr.  Bruneau,  asking  permission  to  translate  my  books  into  French. 


Chap.  VI]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  163 

But  assuredly  all  this  would  have  been  impossible  if  I  had  not 
had  the  good  fortune  of  having  you  as  sponsor.  No  magazine  at 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic  would  have  published  "My  New  Curate." 
They  are  all  old-fashioned  and  conservative,  forgetting  that  the 
Church  must  move  with  the  age  and  that 

"The  old  order  changeth  yielding  place  to  the  new." 

But  I  think  your  enterprise  and  the  success  that  has  attended 
it,  have  caused  some  heart  searchings  here  in  Ireland. 

I  shall  certainly  write  a  preface  to  the  book;  and  introduce  my 
obligations  to  the  American  Ecclesiastical  Review  and  its  editor. 

I  have  written  to  Mr.  M accepting  his  terms,  saying  that  he 

can  have  the  copyright  also.  I  do  not  see  what  use  it  could  be 
to  me,  unless,  like  Rudyard  Kipling,  I  should  have  to  buy  it  back 
at  a  big  price  in  future  years.     The  formal  agreements  promised 

by  Mr.  M ,  I   am  expecting  by  every  mail.     The  book  will 

have  a  large  sale  here.     I  have  forwarded  to  Mr.  M a  book  of 

sketches  and  some  loose  photographs  for  his  illustrations. 

I  had  been  thinking  of  asking  you  to  commence  the  new  series 
in  January  1900,  instead  of  next  October,  partly  because  it  would 
synchronise  better  with  dates,  and  partly  because  I  am  sometimes 
hard  pressed  with  work.  But  I  have  refused  to  entertain  any 
proposals  until  the  series  "Ye  Shepherds"  has  been  ended  in  your 
magazine.  Let  me  know  what  you  think.  Of  course  I  can  supply 
you  with  copy  for  October  in  case  you  thought  it  advisable. 

I  shall  be  very  much  pleased  if  Mr.  M and  myself  can  be- 
come permanent  friends,  as  we  shall  be.  I  am  very  anxious  to 
bring  out  a  volume  of  sacred  poetry  next  year;  and  our  publishers 
here  are  slow  and  unsatisfactory. 

I  am  so  sorry  I  shall  not  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  face  to 
face  this  autumn.  Perhaps  the  Fates  will  yet  be  kind  and  let  you 
come.  I  have  a  large  house  and  garden,  in  a  very  poor  village; 
but  the  country  around  is  beautiful,  and  a  few  weeks  here  would 
send  you  back  rejuvenated  and  refreshed  to  your  desk.  May  it 
be  so. 

Again  with  all  thanks, 

I  am,  my  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 
Yours  in  Xt., 
P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

In  compliance  with  Father  Sheehan's  wish,  the  appear- 
ance of  the  new  serial  was  deferred  to  the  following  Janu- 


i64  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

ary,  1900.  He  had  in  the  meanwhile  refreshed  his  memory 
by  revisiting  the  old  scenes  in  Devonshire.  His  ideas,  too, 
as  to  the  best  manner  of  presenting  the  subject  of  his  mis- 
sionary experiences  had  changed,  and  the  title  of  Luke 
Delmege  was  to  be  substituted  for  that  of  "Ye  Shepherds." 

Though  his  name  was  very  well  known  by  this  time  it 
was  deemed  desirable  for  the  nonce  to  keep  up  the  pretense 
of  anonymity.  The  preface  to  My  New  Curate^  in  which 
the  author  proposed  to  express  his  acknowledgments  to 
his  American  readers  for  their  ready  appreciation  of  his 
work  while  it  had  appeared  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Review, 
did  not  arrive  in  time  for  the  first  edition,  and  was  never 
pubHshed.  Meanwhile  numerous  were  the  inquiries  whether 
the  author  of  My  New  Curate  was  going  to  continue  writing. 
Readers  wanted  more  of  "Daddy  Dan"  and  of  Letheby, 
who,  after  becoming  a  P.P.,  must  surely  have  got  the 
purple  robes  which  the  Canon  had  promised  to  keep  for 
him.  Other  questions  related  to  certain  details  mentioned 
in  the  novel. 

These  questions  were  soon  disposed  of.  Father  Sheehan 
replied  to  some  of  them  privately;  others  e.g.  "What  was 
the  Kampaner  Thai?"  were  answered  through  the  pages  of 
The  Ecclesiastical  Review. 

The  Kampaner  Thai  is  a  treatise  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
by  Jean  Paul  Richter.  It  is  a  journal  supposed  to  be  kept  by 
the  author  during  a  tour  in  France,  and  purports  to  detail  certain 
conversations  between  himself  and  a  wedding  party  which  is 
making  its  way  to  a  baronial  castle  in  the  Pyrenees.  The  party 
make  a  pedestrian  tour  through  the  Kampaner  Thai  (The  Meadow 
Valley),  and  at  the  different  halts  in  the  journey  the  dialogue  is 
sustained  by  the  author;  Carlson,  a  sceptic;  the  Baron  Wil- 
helmi;  Gione,  his  affianced;  and  Nadine,  her  sister.  The  romance 
is  said  to  have  been  suggested  to  Richter  by  some  doubts,  expressed 
by  some  ladies  of  his  acquaintance,  about  their  future  immortality. 
It  deals  with  the  all-important  question  from  the  standpoint  of 
experience  and  reason  and  the  eternal  fitness  of  things,  and  argues 
largely  from  that  intuition  which  is  ever  so  dear  to  a  poet.  Hence 
the  treatise  is  remarkable,  even  beyond  all  Richter's  other  works, 
for   picturesque   descriptions   and   those   practical   analogies   and 


Chap.  VI]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  165 

images  in  which  he  had  no  equal.  A  sequel  named  Selinda  deals 
with  the  same  question  from  another  standpoint  —  that  of  philo- 
sophical investigation  as  distinguished  from  mere  feeling.  The 
book  undoubtedly,  if  not  the  greatest,  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing of  the  voluminous  works  that  issued  from  the  pen  of  this 
difficult  and  delightful  German  author. 

Matthew  Russell  sent  to  Father  Sheehan  some  sugges- 
tions by  way  of  criticism  that  should  prove  useful  in  a  new 
edition  of  My  New  Curate.  Referring  to  the  character  of 
"AHce"  in  the  chapter  "Madonna  mia,"  he  writes: 

"Dr.  Brendan  MacCarthy  (son  of  the  poet  Denis  Florence) 
says  you  should  not  have  made  that  good  girl  suffer  from  polypus 
but  lupus  or  cancer.  Polypus  is  the  most  curable  of  diseases, 
and  the  symptoms  you  describe  belong  to  something  far  worse. 

"Dr.  MacCarthy  thinks  you  run  down  our  poor  people  too 
much.  Scott  idealized  his  countrymen  and  raised  the  apprecia- 
tion of  Scotland  abroad.  My  friend  whom  I  like  so  much  —  Mrs. 
Francis  Blundell  —  vexes  me  in  some  of  her  Irish  sketches  with 
the  tone  she  adopts  towards  her  humbler  characters.  Kate 
Douglas  Wiggin,  a  clever  American,  wrote  two  charming,  bright, 
witty  books  Penelope's  English  Experience  and  Penelope  in  Scot- 
land. I  only  read  the  second,  and  I  liked  it  greatly.  But  now 
comes  out  Penelope  in  Ireland.  It  is  a  very  poor  book,  and 
while  pretending  to  be  good-humored  it  is  offensive. 

Mr.  Justice  Madden  is  an  ardent  admirer  of  My  New  Curate 
and  its  author.  ^ 

He  also  tells  Father  Sheehan  what  Joel  Chandler  Harris 
(Uncle  Remus)  wrote  to  one  of  his  daughters  who  was  at 
an  American  convent  school:  "I  am  glad  your  teacher 
enjoyed  the  book  My  New  Curate.  It  is  a  piece  of  real 
literature,  and  it  is  the  finest  book  I  have  read  in  many 
a  day." 

Among  the  criticisms  that  gave  due  emphasis  to  the  dis- 
tinctive features  of  My  New  Curate^  the  following  from  the 
late  Michael  T.  Duggan,  one  of  the  leading  contributors 

^The  Hon.  Dodgson  H.  Madden,  Attorney  General  and  M.P.,  was  also  Vice 
Chancellor  of  Dublin  University,  and  interested  in  Canon  Sheehan's  educational 
schemes  for  Ireland.  He  is  the  author  of  the  Diary  of  Master  William  Silence  — 
a  Shakesperean  study. 


l66  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

to  the  Nezv  Ireland  Review  and  some  English  periodicals, 
deserves  mention  here: 

i88,  Clonuffe  Road,  Dublin. 
7  April,  1900. 
Dear  Father  Finlay, 

I  have  read  with  great  delight  Fr.  Sheehan's  book  My  New 
Curate.  It  is  simply  superb;  it  is  a  long  time  since  I  read  anything 
so  good.  I  think  it  shows  the  possibility,  the  practicability  of 
dealing  literally  with  Ireland  and  her  people,  and  with  at  least 
as  much  advantage  if  not  with  quite  as  much  success,  as  Scott 
did  with  Scotland  and  her  people.  The  interpretations  of  Irish 
life  we  have  been  accustomed  to  have  almost  invariably  been 
distorted  renderings  and  gave  us  a  part  (and  that  exaggerated  and 
travestied)  and  called  it  the  whole. 

The  supernatural  shines  vividly  through  almost  every  character 
in  the  book,  nevertheless  there  is  not  a  goody-goody  line  in  it. 
And  every  one  in  it  is  so  dehghtfully  human,  with  in  most  cases  a 
"redeeming  vice"  in  him  or  at  least  some  frailty  which  makes  him 
out  to  be  flesh  and  blood. 

I  see  from  your  pencilings  that  you  have  read  the  book  your- 
self and  read  it  critically  (I  think  hypercritically).  What  does  it 
matter  if  "our  conversation  wandered  over  the  whole  area  of 
human  knowledge".'*  Others  before  him  have  written  or  spoken 
"de  omnibus  rebus"  or  "de  omni  scibili."  He  says  "Cui  bono?" 
meaning  "what's  the  use.?"  or  writes  carajola.  Again,  what  does 
it  matter.?  That  in  itself  is  a  part  interpretation  of  our  very 
complex  Irish  character.  We  don't  potter  over  details  as  a 
Scotchman  would.  The  latter  for  instance  would  consult  his 
Greek  lexicon  before  writing  or  passing  over  in  proof  such  a  "thing" 
as  eikons!  But  we  Irish  are  built  so.  We  look  to  the  general 
effect  but  we  wont  take  pains.  Lever,  for  instance,  who  was  a 
doctor  and  should  have  known  some  chemistry,  speaks  in  one  of 
his  books  of  a  valuable  silver  mine  in  Sardinia.  He  refers  to  the 
ancient  workings  of  it  by  Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Romans,  etc. 
Refers  to  Pliny  as  an  authority  who  if  consulted  will  verify  what 
Lever  has  stated! — and  then  goes  on  to  say  that  the  very  lead 
extracted  from  the  ore  would  pay  the  working  expenses  of  the 
mme  because  it  was  exceedingly  valuable,  being  of  that  fine  kind  of 
which  lead  pencils  are  made! 

There  we  are  in  a  nutshell — mock  learning  and  shameful 
ignorance.     That  is  how  we  appear  in  literature. 


Chap.  VI]  "MY  NEW  CURATE"  167 

Now  this  book  which  is  the  first  of  Father  Sheehan's  that  I 
have  read  has  a  minimum  of  these,  while  it  is  interesting,  in- 
structive and  edifying.  And  Fr.  Sheehan  can  tell  a  story  and 
that  is  a  gift  which  not  one  in  a  million  possesses.  The  author  of 
the  Chances  of  War  is  another  of  these  fortunate  people  and  if  he 
had  a  bishop  we  might  hope  to  get  him  kept  busily  employed  in 
giving  us  the  most  necessary  literature  to-day  (after  apologetics), 
namely,  well  constructed,  well  written,  dashing,  vigorous  novels 
full  of  the  life-blood  of  our  people  and  with  no  taint  of  the  fumier 
in  them.  The  glass  of  whiskey  to  some,  and  the  cup  of  tea  to 
most,  are  not  more  craved  for  than  the  literature  I  speak  of.  God 
bless  all  who  help  to  create  it. 

How  to  Keep  Healthy,  pp.  1 16-137  (germs,  bacilli,  etc.)  ^  In 
Kedar's  Tents  —  very  good. 

If  you  want  My  New  Curate  will  you  send  a  card .''  I  am  keep- 
ing it  for  a  week  or  two  (if  I  can). 

M.  T.  D. 

V.   Rev.  T.  A.  Finlay,  S.J., 
University  College. 

^  It  hasn't  kept  me  healthy  —  I  have  that  vile  influenza  since  Sunday  and  am 
trying  to  put  it  over  on  my  feet.     Aches,  pains,  fever,  depression,  cough. 


VII 

"luke  delmege"  and  other  volumes 

As  was  to  be  expected,  Luke  Delmege  proved  to  be 
hardly  less  welcome  than  its  genial  precedessor,  My 
New  Curate.  Some  critics  thought  Luke's  character 
lacked  the  direct  heart  appeal  that  had  marked  Daddy  Dan's 
utterances  and  ways.  Others  on  the  contrary  considered  the 
book  a  superior  piece  of  work,  at  least  in  literary  technique. 
Twenth-four  chapters  of  the  novel  appeared  during  the 
course  of  the  year  1900.  This  completed  the  first  part  of 
the  story,  covering  Luke's  experiences  on  the  English 
mission;  at  the  close  of  which  he  was  bidden  by  his  bishop 
to  return  to  Ireland. 

Although  there  was  more  of  the  story  to  follow,  it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  interrupt  its  serial  publication  for 
some  months,  in  order  to  whet  the  appetite  of  the  readers. 
Soon  these  began  to  inquire,  "What  has  become  of  Luke 
Delmege?"  They  were  told  that  he  was  crossing  the  Irish 
Channel  on  his  way  to  his  native  diocese,  and  that  he  would 
shortly  reappear.  After  the  story  had  been  resumed 
"Luke"  riveted  the  attention  of  his  readers,  until  his 
epitaph  had  been  written. 

HIC  •  lACENT 

OSSA 

ADM  •  REV  •  LUCAE   •  DELMEGE 

GLIM   •   IN  •   SUO  •  COLLEGIO  •   LAUREATI 

NUPER  •  HUJUS   •   ECCLESIAE   •  RECTORIS 

NATUS   •  OCT  •   20  •    1 854 

OBIIT  •  NOV   •   20  •    1898 

AMAVIT  •  LABORAVIT  •   VIXIT 

REQUIESCIT 

The  references  to  Delmege's  academic  attainments  as 
"First   of   First,"   together    with    the   inscription    on    his 

168 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE  DELMEGE"  169 

tombstone,  "Olim  in  suo  Collegio  laureati,"  were  inter- 
preted by  some  of  Canon  Sheehan's  critics  as  a  reflection 
on  his  old  college  of  Maynooth.  If  such  a  thought  was 
in  his  mind  at  the  time  of  writing,  he  gradually  came  to 
divest  himself  of  its  animus.  Toward  the  end  of  his  hfe 
he  had  nothing  but  gratitude  for  those  who  had  been  at 
any  time  instrumental  in  shaping  his  career. 

Meanwhile  he  was  also  experiencing  some  of  the  incon- 
veniences of  popularity. 

On  December  20  he  writes: 

Very  many  thanks  for  your  letter  and  honorarium.  I  am  very 
gratified  to  know  that  you  like  the  new  serial.  I  propose  point- 
ing out  some  of  the  dangers  that  lie  in  the  paths  of  young  priests 
abroad,  especially  when  they  begin  to  read  or  are  thrown  into 
dangerous  surroundings.  I  shall  complete  the  serial  in  five  books 
of  seven  chapters  each,  although  I  may  have  to  prolong  it.  Would 
you  think  it  well  to  close  the  serial  with  the  year  1900,  and  the 
nineteenth  century,  by  giving  three  chapters  in  place  of  two  each 
month  ?  Or  would  you  prefer  to  extend  it  over  into  the  twentieth 
century.?  This  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence  to  me:  so  decide  as 
you  think  right.  Also,  suppress  my  name  altogether,  except  as 
"the  author  of  My  New  Curate."  It  always  gives  me  the  shivers 
to  see  my  name  in  print;  and  the  little  notoriety  I  have  attained 
has  been  productive  of  annoyance  rather  than  pleasure  to  me. 
I  am  dragged  hither  and  thither  by  all  sorts  of  demands;  and  as 
my  health  is  always  an  uncertain  quantity,  I  have  to  refuse  all 
kinds  of  invitations  to  preach,  lecture,  etc. 

I  had  a  few  brief  words  with  an  old  schoolmate,  the  Rev. 
Morgan  Sheedy,  of  Altoona,  Pa.;  he  was  very  enthusiastic  about 
the  method,  enterprise  and  system  by  which  you  have  brought 
the  yfm.  Eccl.  Review  to  success. 

And  again  a  Httle  later: 

Bridge  House,  Doneraile,  Co.  Cork 
Dear  Father  Heuser, 

Many  thanks  for  Postal  Order,  just  received.  Yes,  I  wish  to 
drop  "Idiota"  altogether.  It  was  a  mistake.  I  had  its  literal 
meaning  before  my  mind;  and  did  not  sufficiently  advert  to  its 
modern  acceptation.     If  there  be  a  reprint  I  shall  devise  some 


170  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

other  title  or  modification.     Print  as   I  wrote:    Luke   Delmege. 
Part  II,  Illumination. 

In  the  XXVI  chapter,  "The  King's  Secret,"  there  is  a  passage 
representing  old  Father  Moore  stooping  to  kiss  the  forehead  of 
the  dead  penitent.  I  should  like  to  change  that  word  "kiss"  to 
"bless,"  if  you  thought  well. 

I  shall  send  the  remaining  twelve  chapters  to  you  immediately 
before  or  after  Christmas,  so  that  there  would  be  time  for  al- 
teration or  correction.     This  will  run  the  serial  to  September. 

I  think  Fr.  V.  in  November  number  did  not  understand  my 
metaphor.     Thus:  — 

"When  he  spun  syllogisms  (as  a  spider  spins  his  webs),  and 
drew  unwary  flies  (antagonists)  into  their  (the  syllogisms)  viscous 
and  deadly  clutches."     It  makes  no  difference  however. 

I  am,  my  dear  Father  Heuser, 
Yours  faithfully, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

In  another  note  he  also  suggests  a  correction  for  fear  of 
wounding  the  sensibilities  of  his  clerical  friends: 

In  the  chapter  entitled  "A  Great  Treasure"  (chapt.  xxvii),  if 
you  decide  on  retaining  the  Archbishop,  please  make  him  a  foreign 
one,  by  the  insertion  of  a  few  words. 

With  your  large  and  liberal  views  you  cannot  form  an  idea  of 
how  easily  offence  is  taken  at  this  side. 

With  all  good  wishes,  I  am,  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

Yours  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.P. 

For  the  second  part  of  the  series  the  term  "Idiota," 
originally  added  to  the  title,  was  omitted. 

The  story  was  completed  in  January,  1902  and  at  once 
pubHshed  in  book  form  by  the  Messrs.  Longmans,  Green 
and  Co.  The  volume  got  a  generous  welcome  from  the 
press. 

About  this  time  Father  Sheehan  issued  a  volume  of  his 
poems  under  the  title: 

"CITHARA   MEa" 

These  verses  mark  the  author  as  a  bard  who  endeavors 
to  solve  the  problems  of   life  by  the  light  of   faith.     He 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE  DELMEGE"  171 

divides  his  topic  into  the  "Hidden"  and  the  "Revealed." 
In  the  first  part  he  represents  himself  as  groping  in  the 
shadows:  "And  I  behold  thee;  but  oh!  it  is  so  dark."  — 
"I  heard  a  sound  of  weeping  in  the  night."  —  "For  what 
is  space  but  one  vast,  black  abyss."  His  attitude  is  the 
Faust-hke  search  amid  the  teachings  of  the  ancients  for 
the  mysteries  of  life:  —  "I  ploughed  through  wastes  of 
faded  palimpsests." 

"At  last  I  looked  into  my  soul  and  cried: 

Thou,  thou  at  least,  canst  tell  me  naught  but  truth; 

Thou  oracle  of  God  ..." 

Then  gradually  dawns  the  revelation: 

"I  placed  my  poet  against  your  scientist; 
I  placed  my  prophet  king  against  your  poet." 

In  doing  so  he  realizes  that  he  has  been  misled.  Then 
suddenly  he  hears  a  voice  which,  whilst  it  taunts  him  for 
his  lack  of  faith,  bids  him  recognize  his  heavenly  Father 
smiHng  upon  his  untutored  zeal  and  whispering  to  him: 
"Come  to  Me."  He  finds  the  answer  to  the  riddle  of  hfe, 
and  with  it  his 

"dream  of  death  in  waking  day  expires." 

Besides  this  exposition  of  doubt  and  assurance  succeed- 
ing each  other,  the  verses  contain  various  interpretations  of 
sacred  and  profane  moods.  One  of  these,  "A  Nocturne," 
is  quite  novel  in  form  as  well  as  in  conception.  It  presents 
the  spirit  of  the  poet  peering  into  the  future,  and  consists 
of  twelve  sonnets  woven  into  a  single  theme.  Other  poems 
deal  with  myths  and  legends  of  the  old  Druid  rule;  and  some 
are  fragmentary  communings  with  forgotten  Celtic  bards. 
The  music  throughout  is  in  the  minor  key,  indicating  the 
sense  of  loss,  albeit  instinct  with  prophetic  hope.  There 
is  a  tone  of  refinement  and  an  air  of  mystic  aloofness 
in  Father  Sheehan's  verse  which  separates  it  from  the 
commonplace. 

Dr.  Barry,  having  read  snatches  of  Cithara  Mea,  com- 
ments : 


172  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

"I  am  touched  by  your  letter  and  the  sight  of  your  beautiful 
volume  which  had  come  to  me  at  this  moment.  On  turning  the 
leaves  I  catch  a  happy  phrase  or  a  feeling  thought,  and  I  seem  to 
understand  you  even  better  than  from  your  stories.  That  is 
the  end  of  poetry,  is  it  not.?  I  mean:  to  reveal  one's  mind,  to  get 
a  certain  comfort  by  throwing  outside  of  one  into  clear  shape 
what  one  has  long  brooded  over." 

And  of  Luke  Delmege  he  writes: 

"Glimpses  I  have  had  of  Luke  Delmege  tantalize  and  strike 
out  many  thoughts.  Your  subject  is  striking  and  unhackneyed, 
and  full  of  tragic  elements.  I  wish  the  modern  reader  would 
bear  to  be  told  more  about  a  priest's  life  ..." 

Again : 

"Your  paper  on  Spinoza  —  I  did  not  see  it  in  full  —  appears 
to  have  sounded  at  Maynooth  as  a  voice  from  unknown  worlds. 
Yet  the  Irish  intellect  cannot  forever  be  mewed  up  in  such  terrible 
commonplaces  and  conventionaHties  as  it,  or  its  phantom,  submits 
to,  there  and  elsewhere." 

Father  Sheehan  is  urged  to  go  on  with  his  poetry,  though 
he  also  received  occasional  critical  suggestions. 

St.  Francis  Xavier's,  Upper  Gardiner  St. 

Dublin,  Nov.  8, 

.  .  .  Your  Muse  certainly  does  not  seem  fond  of  "That  swallow- 
flight  of  song."  The  sweep  of  the  eagle's  wing  is  hers.  You 
are  a  contrast  to  another  poet-priest.  Father  John  B.  Tabb  of  the 
United  States,  who  throws  most  of  his  thoughts  into  quatrains  — 
and  very  good  quatrains.  The  fastidious  Alice  Meynell  herself 
has  edited  an  English  selection  from  his  poems  lately. 

I  will  study  all  your  poems  carefully,  with  httle  hope  that  The 
Irish  Monthly  can  claim  the  honour  of  introducing  them  into  the 
world. 

In  some  instances  two  sonnets  form  a  sequence.  In  other 
cases  would  you  allow  the  sonnets  to  be  printed  separately.?  You 
are  terribly  modern.  I  have  studied  nothing  later  than  Ten- 
nyson except  Coventry  Patmore,  if  he  can  be  called  later. 

The  very  last  of  your  sonnets  —  "I  asked  the  mountain,  why 
art  thou  so  dark?"  —  I  like  perhaps  best  of  all.  I  hope  it  is  a 
favourite  of  yours  also. 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE   DELMEGE"  173 

You  ought  to  publish  a  second  volume  of  poetry.  Lady 
Gilbert  is  preparing  a  second  volume.  Look  at  K.  Tynan's  six 
or  seven  volumes  of  verse  —  and  very  good  verse. 

Ever  aiFectionately, 

Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

Later  the  same  writer  returns  to  him  a  MS.  poem. 

Fecst  of  St.  Lorcan. 

Dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

I  hope  "Lady  Ida"  has  arrived  safely.  I  made  her  up  in  an 
awkward  parcel,  to  avoid  folding.  A  very  sweet  poem;  but, 
though  it  is  a  story,  Monsignor  Howley  would  prefer  a  story  in 
prose.  But  you  must  learn  to  say:  No.  Don't  attend  to  such 
demands  which  are  very  unreasonable. 

Do  your  sonnets  or  any  of  them  form  a  sequence  .f'  Must  they 
be  published  in  this  fixed  order .f"  They  are  fine.  But  "The 
Palace  of  Sleep"  at  a  first  glance  frightens  one.  The  metrical 
scheme  is  very  original,  but  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  musical.  The 
eye  is  better  satisfied  than  the  ear.  Your  learned  Muse  requires 
study.  I  have  hardly  looked  at  Swinburne  and  the  moderns, 
so  I  am  an  old  fogey  in  such  matters. 

Very  wrongly  Fr.  C took  off  "A  Much  Abused  Letter"  to 

Limerick,  where  he  went  to  bed  on  Sunday  with  one  of  his  bilious 
attacks.  If  he  had  given  it  to  me,  you  could  have  finished  it  in 
a  day.  When  he  gets  back  to  us,  I  will  send  you  the  ill-omened 
book.     God  help  poor  Fr.  Tyrrell. 

Ever  yours  affectionately, 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

Despite  his  opinion  that  much  of  Father  Sheehan's 
poetry  was  caviare  to  the  general,  Father  Russell  published 
in  his  magazine  a  goodly  number  of  the  verses  not  included 
in  Cithara  Mea. 

St.  Francis  Xavier's,  Dublin. 
Jan.  2,  '07. 

My  dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

Let  me  print  "Woman  and  Child"  in  February.  I  like  Sheila's 
part  best,  I  understand  it.  You  are  a  terribly  modern  poet. 
I  have  not  even  read  the  moderns,  except  bits  in  magazines.  One 
needs  to  be  a  poet,  and  a  modern  poet,  and  a  learned  one  to  boot, 
to  appreciate  duly  your  mystic  "Palace  of  Sleep."     The  Dublin 


174  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Review  is  publishing  poetry  now.     Your  Muse  is  dignified  enough 
for  a  Quarterly. 

Ever  yours  gratefully, 

M.  Russell,  S.J. 

Among  the  best  things  he  wrote  in  verse  is  The  Canticle 
of  the  Magnificat.  It  consists  of  a  hundred  stanzas  of  six- 
line  pentameter  verse  and  bears  in  thought  and  expression 
a  strong  likeness  to  Francis  Thompson's  Hound  of  Heaven. 
The  poem  appeared  as  a  serial  first  in  the  Ave  Maria  and 
was  afterward  reprinted  by  the  Irish  Truth  Society. 

AMERICAN    BAIT 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  after  the  success  that  had 
marked  Father  Sheehan's  literary  work  there  would  be  en- 
ticements held  out  to  him  to  write  for  other  periodicals.  This 
led  to  representations  being  made  to  him  from  some  Ameri- 
can publisher  which  impHed  that  the  author  of  My  New 
Curate  had  been  underpaid,  and  could  do  much  better 
if  he  sought  more  popular  mediums  than  an  ecclesiastical 
monthly.  These  invitations  did  not  make  any  impres- 
sion on  Father  Sheehan,  although  he  referred  to  them  in 
his  letters. 

A  species  of  competition,  however,  which  was  more 
eflPective  was  the  rousing  of  his  suspicions  that  The  Eccle- 
siastical Review  might  ultimately  take  advantage  of  its 
preference,  and  retain  the  copyright  of  his  books.  The 
immediate  occasion  of  this  fear  arose  from  that  magazine's 
securing  a  separate  "copyright"  for  each  article  of  Luke 
Delmege  as  it  appeared.  The  reason  was  of  course  plain 
to  anyone  familiar  with  American  conditions.  Since  the 
series  was  to  be  published  in  book  form  on  its  expiration 
in  the  magazine,  it  seemed  advisable  to  forestall  the  possi- 
bility of  its  being  pirated.  Unless  each  separate  instalment 
bore  expressly  the  notice  that  it  was  copyrighted,  the 
chapters  presenting  isolated  stories  might  readily  be  taken 
by  some  enterprising  publisher  and  printed  before  legal 
protection  for  the  issue  of  the  finished  volume  could   be 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE  DELMEGE"  175 

secured.  In  other  words,  it  was  a  question  of  safeguarding 
the  author's  rights  relative  to  the  pubhcation  of  his  novel 
in  book  form.  The  same  reasons  did  not  exist  for  copy- 
righting separately  other  articles  of  the  Review.  As  Father 
Sheehan  deemed  it  sufficient  cause  for  complaining,  the 
following  explanation  is  here  in  place. 

American  Ecclesiastical  Review 

OVERBROOK,   Pa. 

January   15th,  1900. 

Dear  Father  Sheehan, 

I  answer  your  letter,  just  now  received,  without  delay  to  re- 
move your  anxiety  about  the  copyright.  As  I  pay  for  the  articles 
which  I  request  for  the  Eccl.  Review,  I  hold  according  to  our  law 
and  common  practice  the  copyright  for  the  same.  The  payment 
varies  according  to  the  position  of  the  writer  —  his  recognized 
reputation,  or  the  labor  involved,  or  the  special  character  of  the 
topic  treated  requiring  access  to  documents,  journeys,  etc.,  in- 
volving separate  expense  to  the  author.  For  serials  I  pay  as  a 
rule  five  pounds  each  article.  For  single  articles  I  have  paid  as 
high  as  twenty  pounds.  But  in  every  case  I  claim  the  owner- 
ship of  the  MS.,  as  is  the  practice  with  all  our  publications,  apart 
from  special  stipulation.  The  reason  of  this  outright  purchase 
is  —  to  avoid  contentions  with  authors,  in  case  they  were  to  get 
dissatisfied  with  our  disposition  of  their  articles  as  to  the  time  and 
manner  of  publication,  and  thus  attempt  to  have  them  published 
wholly  or  in  part  through  other  mediums  before  we  could  issue 
them.  Some  of  our  publications  pay  only  after  the  articles  have 
appeared  in  their  pages,  but  the  above  is  our  system,  and  every- 
thing is  done  so  as  to  leave  no  obligations  on  our  part  uncovered. 
But  in  your  case,  as  in  a  jew  others,  I  made  an  exception  from  the 
very  outset,  because  it  seemed  plain  that  if  you  were  to  finish  the 
series,  it  would  also  be  published  in  book  form  and  prove  of  financial 
or  other  advantage.  Such  advantage  I  do  not  ever  contemplate  for 
the  Review  [next  clause  illegible  because  written  over,  but  I  think 
it  is  "I  invariably  turn  over  to"]  the  author,  who  will  thereby  in- 
crease the  working  efficiency  of  the  Catholic  cause.  Thus  the 
Review  accomplishes  the  primary  aim  for  which  it  was  established, 
in  a  twofold  sense.  You  see  that  my  insistence  upon  the  copy- 
right for  paid  articles  means  merely  protection,  not  the  profit  that 
might   come   from  negotiating^   with   it.     Indeed    all  the  articles 


176  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

which  we  retain  copyrighted  are  worthless  to  us  and  any  author 
could  get  them  back  for  the  asking,  when  once  we  have  -published 
them. 

But  why  did  we  copyright  your  articles  separately?  To  facili- 
tate your  obtaining  the  transfer,  if  at  the  end  of  the  series  you  wish 
to  have  the  same  published  in  book  form.  Recently  American  pub- 
lishers have  adopted  the  method  of  copyrighting  individual 
papers  although  the  magazine  in  which  they  appear  is  copyrighted. 
For  it  was  found  that  irresponsible  parties  ostensibly  in  Mexican 
and  Washington  Territories  (although  living  in  N.Y.)  printed 
and  published  and  sold  at  the  thoroughfares  pirated  matter  of 
interest,  at  a  captious  price.  These  publications  were  stamped 
"copyright,"  and  a  good  sale  was  generally  effected  before  the 
publishers  became  aware  of  the  fraud  because  the  titles  of  these 
publications  were  somewhat  different  from  the  original  titles, 
and  some  editions  had  indeed  two  or  three  titles  and  different 
covers  for  different  localities,  with  a  view  to  eluding  the  pro- 
prietors' eye.  Now,  although  I  did  not  think  that  this  would  be 
done  with  your  series,  I  felt  that  if  any  unscrupulous  publisher 
(and  we  have  them  by  the  score  everywhere)  were  to  print  any 
part  of  special  interest  from  your  papers,  I  should  have  no  redress, 
even  with  the  general  copyright.  .  .  . 

Furthermore  there  was  really  some  difficulty  when  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  U.  S.  was  asked  to  give  the  copyright  over  (since  I 
had  registered  it)  to  a  British  subject.     I  sent  a  fonn  of  transfer 

to  Mr.  M which  I  believe  he  sent  you  for  signature  in  which  I 

act  as  your  agent  for  the  transfer  to  the  publisher.  These  were  my 
motives  for  registering  the  articles  separately.  It  is  the  first 
series  (after  My  New  Curate)  which,  coming  from  across  the 
sea,  made  me  familiar  with  the  possible  accidents  that  might  pre- 
vent its  ready  publication,  etc.  If  you  were  here  I  could  easily 
convince  you  how  much  I  deem  it  a  duty  to  protect  my  con- 
tributors .  .  . 

The  explanation  proved  wholly  satisfactory.  About  this 
time  Father  Sheehan  became  acquainted  with  the  Irish 
poet  and  novelist,  S.  R.  Lysaght,  best  known  probably  by 
his  political  sketch,  Her  Majesty's  Rebels  (Macmillan). 
The  author,  then  living  in  London,  at  present  resides  in 
Doneraile,  and  bears  eloquent  witness  to  the  results  of 
Canon  Sheehan's  labors  in   the  district,   as   educator   and 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE   DELMEGE"  177 

parish  priest.     Acknowledging  the  receipt  of  a  volume  of 
Mr.  Lysaght's  poems,  the  Canon  wrote: 

DONERAILE,   Co.   CoRK 

May  1st,  '01. 

Dear  Mr.  Lysaght, 

A  line  of  grateful  acknowledgement  to  you  for  your  beautiful 
volume  just  received.  In  the  midst  of  great  hurry  I  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  of  reading  through  "The  Undiscovered 
Shore."  Whether  in  their  literal  or  allegorical  meaning  the  poems 
are  very  beautiful — just  what  I  should  like  to  have  with  me 
some  warm  afternoon  in  one  of  my  seanooks  down  near  Ardmore 
or  Youghal.  Of  course  the  modern  undertone  of  sadness  runs 
through  all,  and  the  eternal  yearning  after  the  Infinite  and  the 
Ideal  —  the  most  touching  and  sad  of  all  modern  symptoms,  yet 
one  with  which  I,  standing  firmly  on  the  shores  of  Faith,  can 
readily  sympathise.  The  great  notes  of  triumph,  like  those  of 
Dante's  Paradiso,  will  yet  be  heard,  and  you,  as  so  many  others, 
will  come  into  the  harbour  under  the  Great  Pilot  ...  I  shall  be 
looking  out  for  the  reviews  on  your  book. 

A  few  months  later  to  the  same: 

DONERAILE,    Oct.    I9OI. 

Dear  Mr.  Lysaght, 

After  many  interruptions  I  was  able  to  finish  the  reading  of 
"The  Marplot"  last  evening,  and  I  hasten  to  thank  you  for  the 
two  volumes,  and  for  the  pleasure  you  have  given  me  especially 
by  your  own  work. 

I  am  not  enthusiastic  about  "Irish  Ideals."  I  suppose  I  am 
pretty  tired  of  all  the  empiricism  just  now  being  practised  on  this 
poor  country,  and  in  which  there  seems  to  be  one  hopeful  feature, 
viz.  the  return  of  alienated  classes  to  their  allegiance  to  the  mother- 
land .  .  .  "The  Marplot"  is  an  exceedingly  clever  story.  I  agree 
cordially  with  one  of  your  critics  that  "the  descriptive  passages 
rise  to  the  level  of  genius."  I  would  have  wished  for  more,  but 
I  suppose  you  have  kept  that  great  faculty  under  restraint.  For 
the  first  time  I  have  come  across  our  real  Munster  idioms  in  print. 
I  feel  pretty  sure  you  have  been  pelted  with  countless  indignant 
letters  from  young  ladies  for  having  disposed  of  Elsinora  so  sud- 
denly and  mournfully.  I  think  the  death  of  O'Connor,  and  his 
insane  idea  about  the  dice  cast,  very  dramatic,  and  not  at  all 
beyond  the  reach  of  experience  ...  I    am  going  over  "One  of 


178  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

the  Grenvilles"  again.  It  is  an  advance  in  many  ways.  You 
have  a  unique  power  of  working  out  the  plot  of  a  novel.  Some  day 
you  will  give  us  a  distinctively  Irish  Romance,  but  Calliope  is 
your  goddess.     With  renewed  thanks, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

A   NEW   DEPARTURE 

Whilst  the  chapters  of  Luke  Delmege  were  running  their 
course  The  Dolphin  (which  hitherto  had  been  a  literary- 
supplement  to  The  Ecclesiastical  Review)  was  being  or- 
ganized as  a  separate  periodical.  For  this  purpose  it  was 
necessary  to  secure  a  fresh  corps  of  contributors,  and 
accordingly  arrangements  were  made  with  Canon  Sheehan 
for  an  extension  of  his  contract.  The  following  letter  bears 
on  the  subject: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK. 

June  4,  'oi. 

Dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

What  kind  of  story  or  novel  would  suit  your  new  enterprise.? 
I  hold  in  the  stocks  two  skeleton  forms  of  stories  —  one,  purely 
narrative,  without  any  particular  motive  underlying  the  tale; 
the  other,  dealing  with  some  complex  questions  about  labour,  etc. 
This  latter  would  be  the  completion  of  the  trilogy,  for  which  Aly 
New  Curate  and  Luke  Delmege  are  the  first  parts.  It  is  an  idea 
of  forecasting  a  perfect  civilization  founded  purely  on  religious 
lines.  You  will  notice  the  refrain  running  through  Luke  Delmege 
—  "we  must  create  our  own  civilization."  I  am  anxious  to  for- 
malize such  a  civilization,  founded  on  simplicity,  self-surrender; 
and  as  alien  as  possible  to  all  our  modern  ideas  of  progress.  You 
will  perceive  that  Luke's  failure  sprang  from  his  want  of  touch 
with  this  supernatural  element. 

Give  me  your  ideas;  and  let  me  know  is  the  enlarged  Dolphin 
to  be  consumed  by  laics  only;  or  as  an  occasional  Sunday  dinner 
by  the  ecclesiastics  also-f* 

Ever  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

The  Dolphin  appeared  as  a  separate  monthly  in  January, 
1902;  and  the  first  issue  contained  a  biographical  sketch 
of  the  "Author  of  *My  New  Curate,'"  by  Fr.  Matthew 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE   DELMEGE"  179 

Russell,  S.J.  The  article  was  to  make  the  readers  familiar 
with  Father  Sheehan's  work  in  anticipation  of  the  good 
things  which  he  was  sure  to  contribute.  My  New  Curate 
and  Luke  Delmege,  though  written  primarily  for  the  clergy, 
eventually  proved  to  be  books  much  appreciated  by  the 
lay  reader.  Geoffrey  Austin  and  its  sequel  now  began  to 
share  this  popularity. 

The  new  story  did  not  take  shape  until,  apparently  by 
accident,  the  material  of  the  historic  trial  known  as  the 
''Conspiracy  of  Doneraile"  fell  into  Canon  Sheehan's 
hands.     This  furnished  him  with  the  plot  for  Glenanaar. 

During  the  interval  the  author  gathered  into  a  uniform 
whole  some  hitherto  neglected  notes  on  a  variety  of  sub- 
jects that  had  come  under  his  observation.  These  ap- 
peared as  Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars,  in  the  Dolphin. 
The  serial  ran  for  a  year,  the  whole  being  grouped  under 
four  sections  corresponding  to  the  seasons  of  the  year. 
There  is  in  these  detached  musings  a  good  deal  of  local 
sketching,  although  their  main  object  is  to  reveal  the  vary- 
ing moods  of  his  soul  life,  called  forth  by  touches  of  nature 
and  of  thought.  Those  who  have  visited  Canon  Sheehan 
while  he  lived  at  the  Doneraile  parsonage  will  recognize 
at  the  very  beginning  the  description  of  the  little  enclosed 
garden,  with  its  somber  trees  and  rose  bushes,  of  which 
he  was  so  fond;  and  where  he  did  most  of  his  writing, 
during  the  spring  and  summer,  and  far  into  the  autumn 
days.  He  speaks  necessarily  of  himself,  though  with  a 
modestly  deprecating  air,  just  as  he  would  reveal  himself 
to  the  casual  visitor  who  knew  of  his  work  and  might  want 
to  see  the  artist  of  dear  old  "Daddy  Dan." 

"This,"  he  writes,  in  reference  to  his  garden,  "is  its  great  and 
only  merit.  It  is  a  hortus  conclusus  et  disseptus.  Three  high  walls 
bound  it,  north,  south  and  west;  and  on  the  east  are  lofty  stables, 
effectually  shutting  out  all  possibility  of  being  seen  by  too  curious 
eyes.  It  is  a  secluded  spot  and  in  one  particular  angle,  at  the 
western  end,  is  walled  in  by  high  trees  and  shrubs,  and  you  see 
only  leafage  and  grasses,  and  the  eye  of  God  looking  through  the 
interminable  azure.     The  monks'  gardens  bound  it  Cthis  is  the 


i8o  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

Community  close  of  the  Christian  Brothers  who  teach  the  boys' 
schools  of  the  district^  on  the  northern  side;  and  here  in  the  long 
summer  evenings  I  hear  the  Brothers  chanting  in  alternate  strophes 
the  Rosary  of  Mary.  The  sounds  come  over  and  through  my 
garden  wall,  and  they  are  muffled  into  a  sweet,  dreamy  mono- 
tone of  musical  prayer.  But  the  monks  never  look  over  my  garden 
wall,  because  they  are  incurious  and  because  there  is  not  much  to 
be  seen.  For  I  cannot  employ  a  professional  gardener,  and  it 
is  my  own  very  limited  knowledge,  but  great  love  for  flowers  — 
*the  sweetest  things  God  has  made,  and  forgot  to  put  a  soul  in' 
—  and  the  obedient  handiwork  of  an  humble  laborer,  that  keeps 
my  garden  always  clean  and  bright,  and  some  are  kind  enough  to 
say,  beautiful.  And  we  have  sycamores,  and  pines,  and  firs; 
and  laburnum,  and  laurel  and  lime  and  lilac;  and  my  garden  is 
buried,  deep  as  a  well  beneath  dusky  walls  of  forest  trees,  beeches 
and  elms  and  oaks,  that  rival  in  sublimity  and  altitude  their 
classic  brethren  of  Lebanon,  leaving  but  the  tiniest  margin  of 
blue  mountain,  stretching,  sierra  like,  between  them  and  the  stars. 
"  But  my  garden  is  something  more  to  me.  It  is  my  Stoa  —  my 
porch,  where  some  unseen  teacher  ever  speaks,  as  if  with  voice 
authoritative.  It  is  to  me  the  grove  of  Academe.  Here  under 
the  laburnum,  or  the  solitary  lime  or  sycamore,  I  walk  with 
spirits  quite  as  wise  as  those  who  trod  the  ancient  groves  with 
Plato,  and  questioned  him  sharply,  and  drew  out  his  wonderful 
dialectical  powers.  But  my  spirits  question  not.  They  are  not 
sophists  weaving  subtleties  out  of  the  web  and  woof  of  dainty 
words;  nor  do  they  ask  'Why'  and  'Wherefore.'  They  only 
speak  by  their  silence  and  answer  my  interrogations.  For  I  am 
an  inquisitive  being  and  the  mystery  of  the  world  weighs  heavily 
upon  me  .  .  .  Miracles  are  all  round  me.  I  have  a  child's  wonder 
and  a  child's  love." 

All  through  these  sketches  are  to  be  found  personal  allu- 
sions and  reflections  of  the  solitary  whose  habits  made 
him  unusually  introspective.  But  they  are  also  rich  in 
observations  on  men  and  things,  and  they  touch  every 
department  of  human  knowledge  or  divine  philosophy. 
They  are  the  meditations  of  a  well-stored  mind,  the  con- 
templations of  a  mystic,  who  looks  out  upon  the  world 
from  his  chamber  above,  with  the  light  of  heaven  upon 
the  things  below. 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE   DELMEGE"  i8i 

Despite  his  preoccupations  he  did  not  forget  his  old 
clerical  audience.  "I  shall  feel  quite  lonely,"  he  wrote, 
"when  I  see  any  numbers  of  the  American  Eccl.  Review 
without  my  handiwork,  but  I  am  afraid  your  readers  would 
now  Hke  to  see  new  effort  and  a  new  name." 

The  June  issue,  1902,  of  the  Review  contained  an  article 
—  "Father  Mack  on  Retreat"  —  as  a  timely  commentary 
on  the  annual  spiritual  exercises  of  the  clergy.  It  purported 
to  be  an  incident  of  the  retreat  in  which  two  priests  are 
described  as  discussing  with  some  animation  the  relative 
merits  of  present-day  pastoral  methods.  The  Bishop 
happens  to  come  on  the  scene  and  shows  his  displeasure 
at  their  violating  the  silence  of  the  retreat.  But  "Father 
Willie,"  who  "was  a  young  'old'  priest,  fairly  on  in  years, 
though  always  with  the  heart  and  spirits,  and  even  the 
face  of  a  boy,"  apologizes  for  the  two,  and  captures  His  Lord- 
ship's good  will  by  unconsciously  revealing  a  singular  spirit 
of  filial  chivalry  toward  the  older  man,  his  former  pastor. 

Father  Sheehan  had  wished  the  story  to  be  printed 
anonymously.  The  following  letter,  marked  "private 
and  confidential,"  shows  a  still  lurking  dread  of  criticism. 
Referring  to  "Father  Mack  on  Retreat,"  he  writes  from 
the  Bridge  House,  June  13,   1912: 

I  expect  there  will  be  diversity  of  opinion  about  it  as  about  my 
other  work;  but  in  view  of  the  hostility  that  has  been  raised 
against  me  in  clerical  circles  on  this  side,  on  account  of  Luke 
Delmege,  I  would  urge  upon  you  the  advisability  of  keeping  the 
authorship  of  it  a  secret.  Attempts  may  be  made  to  discover 
the  writer;  but  I  am  aware  that  many  would  be  glad  to  quote 
it  as  another  example  of  my  desire  to  lampoon  and  discredit  the 
Irish  priesthood.  Although  the  verdict  of  the  world  is  the  other 
way,  we  must  yield  a  little  to  insane  prejudices;  and  I  had  de- 
termined not  to  touch  on  this  delicate  clerical  question  any  more, 
nay  even  to  rest  altogether  from  literary  work,  and  devote  all 
my  time  to  my  parish  and  people.  But  you  will  see  the  neces- 
sity of  maintaining  the  anonymity  of  the  article  intact. 

About  this  time  a  proposal  was  made  to  Canon  Sheehan 
to   visit   the  United   States   for   the   purpose   of  collecting 


i82  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

funds  to  lift  the  debt  on  the  beautiful  cathedral  building 
at  Queenstown.  His  friends  in  America  strongly  urged 
him  to  avoid  if  possible  such  a  mission,  lest  it  should  create 
a  false  impression  of  the  purpose  of  his  literary  work. 
The  following  letters  bear  on  this  subject: 

Bridge  House,  Doneraile,  Co.  Cork. 
Sept.  14,  'oi. 

Dear  Father  Heuser, 

I  have  been  absent  from  home  on  a  brief  holiday;  and  found 
your  letter  before  me  ...  I  should  like  to  see  my  work  occasion- 
ally in  the  Reviezv,  which  has  been  an  excellent  patron  to  me.  And 
particularly  I  should  wish  to  send  you  from  time  to  time  short 
little  sketches,  which  would  not  involve  the  wear  and  tear  .of  ex- 
amining Cyclopedias,  but  where  I  could  call  on  my  own  material. 
Any  suggestions  of  this  kind  I  shall  gladly  accept  from  you. 

I  have  given  Luke  Delmege  to  the  firm  of  Longmans,  Green  and 
Co.,  of  London  and  New  York,  to  be  brought  out  simultaneously 
.  .  .  Many  thanks  for  the  typed  chapters  which  came  safely  to 
hand.  Messrs.  Longmans  will  apply  to  you  direct,  or  through  me 
for  copyright. 

I  have  definitely  declined  (indeed  never  seriously  entertained) 
the  mission  of  collecting  money  in  the  States.  It  was  morally 
repugnant  to  my  feelings;  and  physically  impossible  to  a  wretched 
constitution,  though  I  should  have  much  wished  to  oblige  our 
Bishop  who  is  naturally  impatient  under  a  load  of  debt. 

I  am  rushing  through  a  mountain  of  correspondence.  Some- 
times I  wish  you  had  never  drawn  me  out  of  my  beloved  obscurity. 
I  am  paying  the  penalty  dearly. 

Ever  sincerely,  my  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

The  question  of  dramatizing  "Daddy  Dan"  had  now 
been  raised  in  several  quarters.  Mindful  of  the  dangers 
that  beset  a  presentation  on  our  modern  stage  of  not  only 
the  priestly  character  but  also  the  "Irish"  peasant,  the 
idea  had  been  strenuously  opposed,  unless  the  play  were 
done  under  absolutely  safe  auspices,  which  meant  that 
the  author  himself  should  censor  the  play,  determine  the 
staging,  the  costumes,  and  the  accessories  in  detail. 

Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars,  which  went  forth  with 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE   DELMEGE"  183 

the  author's  name  attached,  was  favorably  received,  and 
apparently  dispelled  Father  Sheehan's  last  misgiving  about 
the  advisability  of  his  contributions  appearing  regularly, 
over  his  own  name.  The  following  shows  his  mind  on  the 
subject: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK. 

Sept.  6,  1902. 

My  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

Your  letter  and  the  Dolphin  have  come  together.  I  see  that 
in  this  as  indeed  in  other  matters  your  judgment  is  always  right. 
It  was  not  dread  of  criticism  (I  am  pretty  hardened  now)  but  an 
idea  that  there  was  so  much  of  my  own  personality  in  these  pages 
that  made  me  sensitive  about  appearing  above  my  name.  I 
had  an  idea  that  the  papers  would  read  better  from  an  unknown 
and  obscure  writer  —  I  mean  unknown  by  reason  of  his  anonymity. 
However,  all's  right  now:  and  you  have  given  me  a  grand  "send 
off."     I  only  hope  that  the  papers  will  realize  all  your  expectations. 

If  the  Dolphin  once  gets  hold,  it  must  prove  a  valuable  organ 
of  instruction  to  the  laity.  I  always  think  that  our  people  are 
starved  for  want  of  wholesome  intellectual  food.  We  must  try 
and  push  it  here.     Fr.  Russell  is  doing  his  best  in  the  Irish  Monthly. 

I  have  received  a  copy  of  Dr.  Henry's  fine  book.  Please  thank 
him  for  me.  I  should  like  to  know  what  Leo  himself  thinks  of  it. 
He  must  be  gratified  exceedingly. 

Always  sincerely,  my  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

A  few  months  later,  when  the  papers  had  been  widely 
commented  upon,  he  writes: 

DONERAILE,    Co.    CoRK. 

March  y,   1903. 

Very  many  thanks  for  letter  and  cheque  just  received.  From 
some  communications  I  have  received,  I  fancy  these  papers  in 
the  Dolphin  are  finding  their  way  into  unusual,  unexpected  places, 
and;  I  think,  are  likely  to  effect  some  good  —  at  least,  perhaps 
they  may  liberate  us  Catholics  from  the  ordinary  charge  of  ob- 
scurantism. 

I  should  prefer  the  remark  about  Paragraph  LXI  to  pass  un- 
noticed. These  criticisms  are  generally  suggested  by  vanity,  and 
it  is  merely  to  flatter  such  vanity  to  notice  them.  The  expression, 
of  course,  "exiled  from  the  blisses  of  heaven"  is  not  theologically 


l84  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

exact;  but  my  meaning  was  quite  apparent.  Perhaps  I  should 
have  said  "exiled,  according  to  our  selfish  conceits,  from  the  blisses 
of  heaven  though  enjoying  the  beatific  Vision,"  etc. 

What  a  wonderful  literature  we  should  have,  if  even  one  tenth 
of  our  critics  would  write  something  themselves. 

Ever  sincerely, 
P.  A.  Sheehan. 

P.S.  — A  few  days  with  you  here  will  be  a  rare  break  in  the 
monotony  of  my  life.  But  let  me  know  the  "when"  of  your 
coming. 

When  Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars  had  run  to  its  con- 
clusion, the  Dolphin  manager  made  an  agreement  with 
Father  Sheehan  for  a  number  of  copies  to  be  reprinted 
from  the  plates  of  the  serial  as  it  appeared  in  the  maga- 
zine. These  copies  were  not  to  be  sold,  but  to  be  sent  as 
a  gift  to  the  original  subscribers.  Later  on  these  plates 
were  presented  to  Father  Sheehan  for  the  American  edi- 
tion of  the  volume,  which  was  issued  by  Benziger  Brothers, 
of  New  York. 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK. 

12-   XI-  '03. 

I  received  in  good  condition  and  time  your  edition  of  "Under 
the  Cedars  and  the  Stars."  The  type  and  all  were  so  familiar 
and  beautiful,  I  had  the  impertinence  to  write  to  the  office  for  a 
few  more.  And  they  sent  me  six,  which,  considering  the  limited 
nature  of  the  edition,  was  very  generous.  I  suppose  by  this  time 
the  Irish  edition  has  come  into  your  hands.  I  have  improved  it 
by  marginal  notes  and  a  table  of  contents  which  seem  attractive. 
I  am  now  kept  very  busy  in  lecturing,  mostly  in  Dublin.  It  is 
a  form  of  literature  I  don't  like.  I  prefer  my  desk,  and  pen  and 
lamp,  and  I  find  the  physical  effort  of  talking  for  over  an  hour 
very  distressing,  as  lungs  and  heart  are  both  weak.  I  am  plough- 
ing through  a  paper  for  the  Maynooth  students  to  be  read  on 
December  ist.  The  late  president,  Dr.  Gargan,  wrote  so  urgently 
I  could  not  refuse  him;  and  the  present  President  urged  the  matter 
again.  So  there  was  no  getting  out  of  it.  Besides,  of  all  audi- 
ences, I  like  students  best.  I  hope  your  Homiletic  Review  will 
do  well.  The  New  York  man,  Wagner,  has  two  bound  volumes, 
MSS.,  of  my  sermons  which   he   is   doling   out.     I   understood 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE  DELMEGE"  185 

that  this  was  a  priestly  undertaking,  under  the  exclusive  manage- 
ment of  priests.     Otherwise  I  would  not  have  sent  them. 

Need  I  say  how  glad  I  shall  be  to  see  you  here.?  Thanks  for 
the  President's  letter. 

I  had  a  few  interviews  here  in  the  autumn  with  Chief  Justice 
Holmes,  son  of  the  author  of  "The  Autocrat."  He  was  a  most 
interesting  man;  and  when  we  got  on  philosophical  topics  he  talked 
well  ...  I  know  I  am  exacting:  but  could  you  send  him  a  copy 
of  the  "Cedars  and  Stars".?     He  lives  in  Boston. 

Always  sincerely,  my  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

Mr.  Justice  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  mentioned  in  the 
above  letter,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  since  1902,  had,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
visit  to  England,  been  induced  to  spend  a  brief  holiday 
with  his  friends.  Lord  and  Lady  Castletov^n  of  Upper 
Ossory,  at  "Doneraile  Court"  in  Ireland.  It  was  Lord 
Castletown's  habit  to  introduce  visitors  of  distinction  in 
the  literary  or  educational  world  at  the  Catholic  Rectory; 
for  he  held  the  Canon  in  high  esteem,  not  only  for  his 
mental  attainments  but  for  his  practical  efforts  in  pro- 
moting the  moral  and  economic  interests  of  the  district. 
It  will  be  seen  how  much  the  mutual  understanding  and 
good  feeling  between  the  pastor  of  Doneraile  and  the 
gentry  of  the  neighborhood  contributed  to  the  improve- 
ment of  local  conditions.  Although  the  Canon  rarely,  if 
ever,  visited  in  deference  to  purely  social  conventions,  he 
was  invariably  invited  by  the  local  authorities  to  assemblies 
and  the  more  important  functions.  He  frequently  pre- 
sided on  these  occasions  as  chairman,  or  was  chosen  as  one 
of  the  speakers  by  reason  of  his  recognized  gift  of  public 
address  and  his  ability  for  organizing.  On  the  other  hand 
he  was  often  sought  by  the  local  land  owners  for  consulta- 
tion, who  brought  their  friends  with  them,  and  the  Canon's 
courteous  and  hospitable  manners  were  sure  to  put  his 
visitors  at  their  ease. 

In  this  way  Justice  Holmes  met  the  author  of  My  New 
Curate.      The    philosophical    habit    of   mind    and    literary 


i86  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE    [Part  II 

tastes  of  the  two  men  appear  to  have  at  once  drawn  them 
toward  each  other,  and  there  sprang  up  between  them  an 
intimacy  fruitful  of  rare  intellectual  intercourse,  as  is 
manifest  from  their  correspondence,  covering  nearly  ten 
years,  to  the  very  eve  of  the  priest's  death. 

"I  sincerely  hope,"  writes  the  Canon  after  the  departure 
of  his  American  friend,  "you  will  find  time  during  the  long 
vacations  to  run  over  again.  For  your  little  morning  visits 
to  me  were  gleams  of  sunshine  across  a  grey  and  monoto- 
nous life."  The  attraction  for  Canon  Sheehan  was  but 
natural.  Though  wholly  contented  in  the  life  of  pastoral 
and  literary  occupation  which  he  had  chosen,  he  at  times 
felt  the  comparative  isolation  which  separated  him  from 
intercourse  with  men  of  congenial  temperament  and  edu- 
cation. The  clergy  whom  he  met  were  apt  to  discuss  pa- 
rochial matters  or  "talk  shop,"  as  men  say.  On  the  rare 
occasions  when  he  went  abroad  he  met  men  of  science  or 
letters  mostly  on  a  professional  footing.  In  correspondence 
with  his  more  intimate  friends  alone  did  he  find  that  incen- 
tive to  intellectual  activity  which  he  so  highly  valued  and 
which  he  sought  to  cultivate  among  those  for  whom  he 
labored.  "I  feel  my  greatest  want  to  be  some  intercourse 
with  minds  whose  ideas  would  act  as  a  stimulant  to  thought 
by  casting  new  light  on  old  subjects."  He  found  the  com- 
pany of  the  American  jurist  pleasant  because  it  brought 
him,  as  he  said,  face  to  face  with  original  thinking  on  sub- 
jects that  were  of  the  deepest  interest  to  him.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  these  two  men  discussing,  across  the  sea, 
problems  of  philosophy  and  literary  art,  as  well  as  the 
incidents  of  daily  life  which  touch  their  special  professions. 

CRITICISMS 

Meanwhile  favorable  criticisms  were  pouring  in  upon 
the  author  from  all  sides  about  Luke  Delmege  and  Under 
the  Cedars  and  the  Stars.  Father  Russell  kept  his  friend 
informed  about  them. 

I  suppose  sooner  or  later  you  see  nearly  all  the  criticisms  of  your 
book.     I  tear  out  the  enclosed  from  the  last  American  Catholic 


Chap.  VII]  "LUKE  DELMEGE"  187 

^larterly.  The  advertisement  in  Westminster  Gazette  of  Monday 
gives  a  good  phrase  from  the  Spectator  and  another  from  Punch. 
Of  course  you  have  seen  the  Tablet  of  Saturday. 

In  another  letter  he  says: 

In  Dublin  I  saw  Stephen  Gwynn's  new  book  To-day  and  To- 
morrow in  Ireland.  Two  of  the  essays  are  reviews  of  Luke 
Delmege  and  My  New  Curate,  one  of  them  reprinted  from  the 
Edinburgh  Review  where  I  saw  it  at  Lord  Gormanston's  .  .  . 
Luke  Delmege  is  getting  the  better  of  its  enemies. 

The  "enemies"  here  referred  to  v^^ere  a  few  educational 
theorists  w^ho  saw  in  the  volume  a  direct  attack  upon 
Maynooth  College  and  its  educational  methods.  They 
singled  out  trivial  exaggerations  in  the  volume  and  by  them 
judged  alike  the  motive  and  manner  of  the  author.  No 
doubt  he  did  intend  to  criticize.  No  doubt,  too,  he  over- 
drew his  figures.  But  in  doing  so  he  only  followed  the 
principle:  "To  get  a  hearing  one  must  perforce  exaggerate." 
Most  readers  of  Luke  Delmege  fully  understood  this. 

More  discriminating  naturally  were  the  criticisms  of 
Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars.  Maurice  Francis  Egan, 
a  man  of  letters  and,  since  1907,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Denmark, 
suggested  a  possible  change  in  the  manner  of  presentation. 
The  editor  of  the  Month  printed  a  critique  in  which  he  read 
the  author  a  severe  lecture  not  only  for  abandoning  the  de- 
lectable art  of  writing  stories  and  indulging  in  literary  and 
philosophical  reflections,  but  for  misrepresenting  "black- 
birds and  throstles"  and  for  comparing  the  song  of  the 
"missel-thrush  to  Crashaw's  'Music  Duel.'"  The  com- 
mentators even  went  so  far  as  to  seriously  regret  that  the 
American  system  of  speUing  should  have  been  retained  in  the 
English  edition  of  the  book.  Father  Russell  in  a  letter  to 
Canon  Sheehan  writes  of  one  of  these  critics  that,  though 
he  was  terribly  observant  about  the  habits  and  colors,  etc., 
of  birds,  he  knew  him  to  be  at  heart  a  great  admirer  of  the 
Irish  author.  "Write,"  he  adds,  "whatever  you  feel  in- 
cHned  to,  and  don't  mind  anybody."  A  little  while  before 
he  had  told  him: 


i88         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

I  am  sure  you  are  too  broadminded  to  be  impressed  by  these 
notions.  You  are  yourself  the  best  judge  of  what  is  at  any 
given  time  the  best  vent  for  your  heart  and  mind.  Nevertheless, 
you  must  not  be  surprised  if  those  reveries  and  discussions  which 
delight  a  great  many  already  and  will  in  other  forms  delight  many 
generations  of  readers  after  your  death,  should  not  "enthuse," 
as  they  would  say  themselves,  your  American  readers  .  .  . 
Sartor  Resartus  did  not  increase  the  circulation  of  Frasers 
Magazine.  You  will  remember  the  Cork  priest  who  was  its  only 
Irish  admirer  — was  it  Father  A.  B.  O'Shea?  Follow  your  own 
inspirations  bravely  to  the  end,  and  make  this  perhaps  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  your  books.  Critics  will  constantly  refer  to  the 
standard  of  My  New  Curate  —  "Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears 
a  crown." 

For  the  rest,  there  were  not  wanting  competent  judges 
who  placed  Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars  among  Canon 
Sheehan's  best  work.     His  friend  Justice  Holmes  writes: 

This  moment  I  have  finished  the  book.  It  is  the  only  book, 
except  a  few  short  light  things  that  I  don't  count,  that  I  have 
read  since  I  received  it.  .  .  .  And  now  I  must  tell  you  once  more 
of  the  love  and  exaltation  which  your  words  have  the  skill  to  com- 
mand, as  few  words  that  I  have  read  anywhere  can.  It  is  true 
that  I  don't  believe  your  philosophy,  or  shall  I  say  the  religion 
which  you  so  beautifully  exalt.  .  .  .  When  I  begin  to  write  to 
you  I  am  tempted  to  say  many  things,  but  I  refrain.  I  do  not 
want  to  burden  you  either  with  my  reflections  or  with  the  feeling 
that  you  must  answer.  I  simply  want  to  tell  you  more  emphati- 
cally than  before,  now  that  I  have  finished  your  book,  that  I  owe 
you  my  admiration  and  thanks. 

{Febr.   1904.) 

Similar  opinions  were  expressed  by  men  of  such  different 
type  in  literary  attainments  as  the  Dublin  Judge  D.  H. 
Madden  and  the  American  humorist  Joel  Chandler  Harris. 
The  author  of  Uncle  Remus  chose  for  constant  companions 
during  his  retirement  "The  Bible  and  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
then  Shakespeare,  Newman,  Sheehan."  At  this  time  he 
had  not  yet  become  a  Catholic. 


Chap.  VII]  SOCIALISM  189 

SOCIALISM    AS    A    LITERARY    THEME 

It  was  important  that  Father  Sheehan  should  keep 
up  his  connection  with  the  Ecclesiastical  Review^  in  which 
he  had  begun  his  sketches  of  clerical  life.  He  himself 
was  anxious  to  do  so,  as  appears  from  his  letters,  and  his 
strength  lay  undoubtedly  in  the  portrayal  of  pastoral  or 
clerical  characters  and  doings.  But  to  find  a  new  form  into 
which  to  cast  the  theme  was  not  easy.  He  was  not  suffi- 
ciently informed  about  conditions  in  America,  and  its 
clerical  types,  to  write  a  novel  with  a  New  World  back- 
ground. It  would  have  been  futile  to  ask  him  to  attempt 
a  work  on  these  lines. 

Among  the  subjects  he  had  not  touched  upon  was  Social- 
ism. Socialism  was  spreading  its  tenets  in  English-speaking 
countries  generally.  Communism  and  equal  rights,  the 
dignity  of  labor  and  the  abuses  of  wealth,  were  being  every- 
where discussed;  and  Cathohcs,  especially  the  proletariat, 
were  being  indoctrinated  with  dangerous  principles  leading 
to  protracted  strikes  and  serious  differences  between  work- 
ing men  and  employers.  A  good  story  dealing  with  the  indus- 
trial problems  of  the  day  would  appeal  to  clergy  and  laity 
alike.  It  could  point  out  the  fallacies  of  certain  popular 
and  plausible  arguments  of  the  demagogues  and  agitators 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  responsibilities  of  wealth  on  the 
other.  Thus  the  principles  of  Christian  ethics  would  supply 
the  argument,  whilst  the  scenes  of  the  story  could  be  set  in 
Ireland  or  England.  It  was  clear  that  such  a  serial  would 
serve  both  a  pastoral  and  an  apologetic  purpose.  ^ 

Father  Sheehan  accepted  the  suggestion;  but  from  the 
outset  he  experienced  difficulty  in  dealing  with  the  subject, 
chiefly  because  the  social  question  and  the  labor  problem 
as  they  existed  in  Ireland  were  of  a  different  nature  from 
what  they  are  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  or  Australia. 
The  setting  of  the  proposed  novel  was  to  have  been  a  mon- 
astery in  the  east  of  Ireland  where  the  Friars  from  various 

^  The  work  was  subsequently  done,  not  by  Father  Sheehan,  but  by  Richard 
Aumede  Maher  in  a  serial  written  for  the  Review  under  the  title  The  Heart  of  a  Man. 


I90         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

missions  of  the  home  and  foreign  field  should  meet  in 
brotherly  converse  to  exchange  views  regarding  the  great 
moral  questions  agitating  the  masses  to  whom  they  were 
constantly  preaching.  As  men  of  zeal  and  intelligence, 
who  came  in  contact  with  the  people  in  the  large  industrial 
centers  at  home  and  abroad,  they  could  speak  with  knowl- 
edge and  authority. 

It  had  been  suggested  to  him  also  that  his  short  story, 
The  Monks  of  Traholgan,  might  be  elaborated  into  the  pro- 
posed novel.  Referring  to  the  subject  in  a  letter  at  this 
time,  he  says:  "When  I  wrote  The  Monks  of  Traholgan, 
some  years  ago,  I  had  in  view  a  large  work  on  the  monastic 
Hfe  such  as  you  have  suggested.  But  I  found  I  was  antici- 
pated by  Huysmans;  so  I  left  it  a  mere  sketch.  I  am  now 
laboring  at  the  Labour  and  Capital  novel,  but  am  making 
no  headway.  The  agony  of  the  thing  does  not  strike  us; 
and  all  my  sympathies  are  with  the  laboring  classes." 

On  June  13th  (1904)  he  writes: 

I  have  been  thinking  much  about  your  socialist  novel;  but  it 
is  a  good  deal  outside  my  sphere  of  thought.  What  should  be  the 
underlying  principle?  Do  atheism  and  socialism  go  together? 
How  are  we  to  keep  the  golden  mean  between  labour  and  capital? 
What  of  Christian  Sociahsm?  These  are  a  few  of  the  questions 
that  keep  cropping  up,  when  I  allow  myself  to  think  of  the  matter. 
And  are  not  the  conditions  of  labour  in  America  (for  I  should 
place  the  scene  there)  very  deplorable?  I  never  think  without 
a  shudder  of  your  mills  and  tenement  houses,  and  the  environ- 
ments of  the  poor.  Books  are  no  guide.  One  or  two  facts  about 
Socialists  would  guide  me  better.  .  .  . 

I  am  ever  so  sorry  you  didn't  take  up  Luke  Delmege  and  this 
book  {Under  the  Cedars).  It  would  have  been  a  great  grati- 
fication to  me  to  know  that  my  books  were  helping  on  the  great 
cause  of  Catholic  literature,  for  which  you  are  doing  so  much. 
I  hope  you  will  keep  the  plates  of  the  last  work  safe.     They  may 

be  useful. 

Always  most  sincerely. 
My  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 
/  P.  A.  Sheehan. 


Chap.  VII]  "GLENANAAR"  191 

About  this  time  the  Ecclesiastical  Review  secured  the 
manuscript  of  Glenanaar.  It  was  not  a  clerical  novel, 
though  several  churchmen  figured  in  it.  The  Messrs. 
Longmans  of  London  were  to  pubhsh  the  story  after  it  had 
been  printed  as  a  serial  in  the  Dolphin,  in  which  magazine 
it  ran  from  November,  1904,  to  August  the  following 
year. 

Glenanaar,  like  The  Graves  at  Kilmorna,  is  more  than  a 
novel.  It  is  actual  history,  based  upon  authentic  records. 
While  going  over  some  old  files  of  the  Southern  Reporter 
and  the  Commercial  Courier  at  the  house  of  his  friend 
PhiHp  Harold  Barry,  J. P.,  who  has  his  residence  in  the 
parish  of  Doneraile,  the  Canon  had  come  upon  the  report  of 
the  State  trials  of  the  so-called  "Doneraile  Conspiracy" 
in  the  autumn  of  1829.  The  men  of  the  district  who  had 
been  accused  of  fomenting  a  secret  rebellion  against  the 
local  government  were  tried  at  the  Cork  Assizes  by  a  special 
Commission  sent  out  from  Dublin  Castle,  and  their  descend- 
ants were  still  living  in  the  neighborhood. 

Our  author  realized  at  once  that  here  was  material  for  an 
important  story,  which  his  familiarity  with  the  local  con- 
ditions and  scenes  allowed  him  to  paint  in  vivid  colors, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  afforded  him  the  opportunity  of 
pointing  a  moral  which  was  calculated  to  enliven  the  patri- 
otic faith  of  his  people.  Incidentally  the  facts  of  the  case 
were  also  a  vindication  of  the  fair  name  of  some  local 
families  whose  members  had  been  implicated  in  the 
accusations. 

In  order  to  give  the  proper  historical  background  to  his 
story,  Canon  Sheehan  went  to  Cork  and  obtained  permis- 
sion to  examine  the  old  court  records  of  the  famous  trial. 
These  he  carefully  copied,  and,  so  far  as  was  practicable, 
incorporated  in  the  novel,  which  he  completed  in  MS. 
within  little  more  than  six  weeks. 

The  central  figure  of  the  story  is  an  Irish  American  — 
Terrence  Casey.  He  is  the  grandson  of  an  "informer," 
Patrick  (known  as  "Cloumper")  Daly.  Daly's  child,  the 
mother    of  Casey,    had    been    abandoned    by    its    parents. 


192         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

The  little  foundling  is  taken  in  by  a  kindly  disposed  farmer, 
Edmond  Connors,  who  is  one  of  a  number  of  men  falsely 
accused  by  Daly  as  imphcated  in  a  conspiracy  against  the 
Government.  When  the  "informer"  learns  that  Connors 
has  sheltered  his  child,  he  retracts  and  makes  affidavit  of 
the  farmer's  innocence;  then,  pocketing  the  "reward"  of 
his  testimony,  escapes  with  his  wife  to  America.  The 
adopted  waif  grows  to  womanhood  and  is  married  to  an 
honest  blacksmith.  Their  son,  come  to  manhood,  acci- 
dentally learns  that  his  mother  is  the  daughter  of  the  "in- 
former"; and,  unable  to  reconcile  the  shame  of  that  thought 
with  his  patriotism,  abandoning  his  home,  he  too  goes  to 
America.  He  works  in  the  Nevada  gold  mines.  Having 
acquired  a  fortune  he  is  moved  to  return  to  his  native  land 
by  the  memory  of  a  young  girl  to  whom  he  had  been  ardently 
attached.  After  an  absence  of  more  than  twenty  years  he 
finds  his  early  love  a  widow  prematurely  aged  through 
sorrow.  She  has  a  daughter,  the  image  of  her  mother  as  he 
had  known  her.  He  reveals  his  purpose  of  claiming  his  old 
bride,  and  in  the  end  marries  the  daughter,  whom  he  takes 
with  him  to  live  in  the  New  World. 

The  persistent  feature  of  the  story  is  the  recurrence  of  the 
stigma  of  the  informer's  guilt  which  clings,  in  the  mind  of 
the  people,  to  Casey's  family,  according  to  the  saying: 
"what  goes  into  the  blood  is  bred  in  the  bone."  The 
romance  is  very  realistic,  and  there  are  parts  that  are  dra- 
matically pathetic  —  such  as  the  rescue  of  the  child  Nodlac 
from  the  snow;  the  death  of  old  Edmond  Connors;  the 
desperate  night  ride  of  William  Burke,  brother  of  one  of 
the  men  on  trial;  the  sudden  appearance  in  the  court- 
house of  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  hero  of  the  Repeal  agitation. 
Finally,  there  is  the  graphic  description  of  the  desolate 
scenes  of  the  great  Famine  in  the  autumn  of  1847,  one  of  the 
most  touching  passages  in  the  book. 

The  novel  was  well  received  in  Ireland,  and  the  critics 
of  the  author's  former  volumes  seemed  appeased  by  the 
evident  patriotism  that  pervaded  the  story. 

Father  Russell  sent  the  author  the  first  appreciation:  — 


Chap.  VII]  "GLENANAAR"  193 

St.  Stanislaus'  College,  Tullamore. 

April  14,  1905. 

My  dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

You  have  given  me  a  great  pleasure  and  privilege  in  seeing 
"Glenanaar"  to  the  end  before  the  rest  of  the  world.  I  wonder 
what  rank  it  will  take  in  the  hierarchy  of  your  books.  There 
are  certainly  very  noble  things  in  it,  and  it  is  completely  different 
from  all  your  other  books.  When  it  comes  out  in  book  form,  I 
will  read  it  through  as  eagerly  as  if  I  had  never  seen  it  before.  I 
will  probably  see  the  symmetry  of  your  plan  better  than  I  do  now. 
The  construction  is  certainly  complicated,  reminiscence  alter- 
nating with  contemporary  history. 

You  speak  of  '47  and  '48  as  the  famine  years.  I  suppose  you 
are  right,  for  O'Connell  died  in  '47  (didn't  he.?)  and  certainly 
the  famine  cloud  hung  dark  over  Ireland  then;  but  was  not  dis- 
tress felt  keenly  in  1846.?  Is  Goula  the  Irish  for  scorpion?  I 
have  heard  of  Sullivan  Goula  and  Scorpion  Stanley. 

Longmans  will  bring  out  two  books  this  season  in  which  I  am 
deeply  interested  —  "Glenanaar"  and  "The  Life  of  Sir  John 
Gilbert."  Lady  Gilbert  is  over  there  now.  I  saw  a  specimen  page. 
I  thought  that  his  name  was  to  appear  on  the  title  page  of 
Fr.  Henry  Browne's  new  book,  "Handbook  of  Homeric  Studies"; 
but  "Browne  and  Nolan"  are  the  only  names  seen. 

Happy  Easter  to  you. 
Ever  yours  sincerely, 
M.  Russell,  S.J. 

Later,  when  the  novel  appeared  in  book  form,  the  same 
good  friend  watches  the  progress  of  its  reception  by  the 
critics : 

St.  Stanislaus'  College,  Tullamore. 
Jpril  28,  1905. 

Dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

Have  you  a  Press  Cutting  Agency  to  send  the  reviews  of  Glen- 
anaar?  The  only  ones  I  have  noticed  are  The  Times  and  The 
Messenger  (New  York).  The  Times  (weekly  edition  Literary 
Supplement  July  7)  calls  it  "a  vigorous  and  skilful  piece  of  work" 
—  that  you  have  hit  on  "a  fine  subject  for  romance,"  and  that 
you  "know  well  the  humour,  the  faults  and  the  pathos"  of  certain 
phases  of  nationalism. 

The  Messenger  is  a  magazine  of  only  two  or  three  years'  standing; 


194         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

and  though  it  is  in  the  same  hands  as  the  devotional  Messenger  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  it  is  in  reaHty  quite  distinct  and  in  another  sphere 
altogether.  I  have  heard  clever  men  say  it  is  the  best  thing  of 
the  sort  that  we  have.  Its  review  is  of  course  very  favorable 
(small  thanks  to  it).  It  has  misgivings  about  the  judiciousness 
of  your  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  your  story  —  going  back  so 
minutely  into  the  past  after  you  had  begun  by  presenting  your  hero 
in  the  present.  Probably  the  story  could  not  have  been  told 
otherwise.     If  you  don't  see  The  Messenger,  I  can  send  it  to  you. 

The  girls  of  a  Convent  school  in  Chicago  call  you  "the  Poet 
Priest  of  Ireland"  without  naming  you  at  all.  But  I  find  it  is 
some  masculine  periodical  that  quotes  "Under  the  Cedars  and 
the  Stars"  in  that  way. 

Ever  yours  affectionately, 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 


DOflEF^RIbE, 

CO.  COHK. 


U-C-iy^    CsiJZe^     i.^nJ7^.      Pn  - 
Jh.  ^l^t^^^  fOy      J       A>t.-C       ji-M,-aw!^      'X-£-*C-<;^^[.*-*^      />v.jB-    '     dot—'' 

^        /  •        •77'  / 


VIII 

A    HOLIDAY    IN    GERMANY 

FOR  the  last  seven  years  Canon  Sheehan  had  given 
more  than  the  spare  hours  of  daily  leisure  to  his 
literary  work.  His  engagements  with  the  maga- 
zines had  put  him  under  some  pressure;  and  the  chapters 
originally  written  for  serial  publication  had  to  be  revised 
in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  book  reader.  The 
fact  that  the  new  novels  spread  with  surprising  rapidity 
also  greatly  increased  his  correspondence,  and  there  came  to 
him  from  many  quarters  requests  for  service  as  critic  and 
lecturer.  Popularity  demands  its  tithes,  and  Father  Sheehan 
had  to  pay  them  in  additional  labor.  How  widely  his 
talent  was  being  canvassed  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact 
that  of  My  New  Curate  about  thirty  thousand  copies  (not 
including  translations)  were  sold  within  eighteen  months. 
Luke  Delmege  was  issued  in  an  edition  of  ten  thousand 
copies.  Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars,  which  the  author 
cherished  especially  because  it  contained  his  more  intimate 
communings  with  nature  and  his  books,  was  prized  for  the 
noble  sentiments  it  inculcated  as  well  as  for  its  keen  analysis 
of  the  hidden  motives  that  control  the  currents  of  life. 
There  were  his  poems  to  add  to  his  popularity,  and  his 
sermons,  printed  in  the  Homiletic  Review,  of  New  York. 
Glenanaar,  the  last  mentioned  of  his  novels,  and  which  had 
taxed  his  energies  to  the  utmost,  was  assured  Hkewise  of  a 
large  circle  of  interested  readers.  If  close  application  to 
literary  work  called  for  a  hoHday  he  had  certainly  deserved 
it. 

All  this  while  he  had  paid  close  attention  to  his  pastoral 
work,  which  was  by  no  means  light.  Careful,  with  a  very 
tender  solicitude,  of  the  poor  and  the  sick;  ever  attentive 
to   the   spiritual   needs   of  his   parishioners   in   their   home 

I9S 


196         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

relations  as  well  as  in  the  church;  watchful  with  an  aflPection- 
ate  anxiety  over  the  education  of  the  children  of  his  village 
and  the  neighboring  districts,  he  had  also  devoted  much  of 
his  time  to  a  study  of  the  agrarian  question  which  was  agi- 
tating the  country  and  which  was  bound  up  with  the  future 
welfare  of  his  people.  Indeed  the  fact  that,  amid  these 
engrossing  duties,  he  still  had  found  it  possible  to  write, 
was  due  to  the  circumstance  only  that  he  regarded  his 
literary  work  as  a  recreation,  a  sort  of  musical  accompani- 
ment to  his  more  serious  tasks.  Following  the  inspirations 
of  his  poetical  mind  was  for  him  like  answering  distant 
pilgrim  calls  of  the  chanters  at  the  festival  seasons.  They 
had  in  them  memories  of  strains  in  which  the  old  Celtic 
bards  poured  out  their  prophetic  longings  for  freedom, 
with  many  a  thrill  of  anticipated  triumph.  There  were 
endless  variations  in  these  melodies  of  mingled  sorrow 
and  joy,  and  in  them  he  found  the  motifs  that  swayed 
the  impulses  of  his  own  people,  one  hour  in  their  sufferings, 
and  the  next  in  their  faith-blessed  humor,  lerne's  legacy 
to  one  of  the  most  gifted  of  races. 

But  while  he  enjoyed  his  work,  and  in  some  measure 
even  the  importunings  that  urged  him  to  greater  application, 
the  physical  strings  of  his  instrument  were  being  worn  and 
there  was  danger  of  their  snapping  in  the  very  midst  of  his 
enthusiasm.  He  was  advised  to  take  a  holiday;  and,  to  make 
it  effectual  through  a  complete  change  of  scene  and  inter- 
course, the  doctors  counseled  a  trip  to  the  Continent. 

His  own  inclinations  had  never  been  toward  foreign  travel. 
Ireland  had  such  a  wealth  of  scenery  in  all  the  varieties  that 
might  draw  one  who  sought  merely  change  and  beauty; 
and  few  knew  better  than  he  how  to  appreciate  her  natural 
charms.  He  had  been  in  England,  of  course,  and  once, 
a  brief  trip,  to  France.  But  that  could  hardly  be  called 
travel  in  the  modern  sense,  even  if  it  was  recreation.  He 
felt  no  particular  attraction  for  Italy,  much  as  he  loved 
the  thought  and  the  language  of  Dante.  Only  a  little  while 
before  this  date  he  had  expressed  his  sentiments  on  the 
subject: 


Chap.  VIII]        A   HOLIDAY   IN   GERMANY  197 

People  say  to  me:  "Never  seen  Rome!  or  Florence!  St.  Peter's! 
The  frescoes  of  the  Sistine!  The  galleries  in  the  Pitti  palace!" 
—  Never.  Nor  do  I  much  care.  If  I  were  to  go  to  Italy,  I  would 
go  to  seek  the  supernatural;  because  it  is  the  only  thing  I  could 
really  and  permanently  admire.  I  would  go  to  Rome,  and  see 
the  Spiritual  Head  of  Christ's  Empire;  I  would  go  to  Loreto  and 
kiss  the  ground  once  trodden  by  Jesus  and  holy  Mary;  I  would 
go  to  Assisi,  and  walk  every  step  of  the  Via  Crucis  the  "poor  man" 
trod.  I  would  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Siena;  and  I  would  visit 
every  stigmatica  and  ecstatica.  And  there  in  her  humble  chamber 
I  would  wonder  and  rejoice.  I  would  have  emotions,  which  the 
grandeur  of  St.  Peter's,  and  the  terrors  of  Vesuvius,  and  the 
beauties  of  Naples,  and  the  sublimity  of  Pompeii  could  never 
excite.  For  I  would  come  into  touch  with  the  Supernatural  — 
with  God;  and  the  work  of  His  fingers  is  more  to  me  than  the  most 
stupendous  creations  of  human  minds. 

But  he  had  a  liking  for  Germany  and  things  German. 
In  Luke  Delmege  there  is  a  chapter,  "En  Route,"  in  which 
he  introduces  "Father  Martin  Hughes,"  of  whom  he  says: 
"Father  Martin  was  almost  the  direct  antithesis  to  his 
friends,  and  it  was  from  him  Luke's  future  life  took  some  of 
its  color."  This  Father  Martin  had  spent  two  years  as  a 
student  in  Germany,  intending  originally  to  devote  himself 
to  the  study  of  Law.  While  at  the  University  he  had  had 
free  scope  to  indulge  his  love  for  nature  as  much  as  for  science 
and  letters.  Sometimes  he  had  lodged  in  humble  cottages 
by  the  banks  of  legendary  rivers,  or  in  the  solitude  of  the 
Black  Mountain  forests;  and  here  "he  had  learnt  to  prize 
the  simple,  cleanly  lives,  grey  and  drab  in  their  monotony, 
but  gilded  by  the  music  and  the  mystery  that  seemed  to 
hang,  like  a  golden  cloud,  above  the  Fatherland." 

In  after  life  he  often  recurred,  with  all  the  gratefulness  of  mem- 
ory, to  the  kindliness  and  unaflFected  politeness  of  these  simple 
peasants  and  woodcutters;  and  the  little  marks  of  sympathetic 
friendship,  such  as  the  placing  of  a  bunch  of  violets  with  silent 
courtesy  on  his  dressing  table,  of  the  little  presents  on  his  birth- 
day, when  his  portrait  was  decorated  by  some  Gretchen  or  Ottilie, 
were  graved  indelibly  on  a  memory  almost  too  retentive.  Then 
the  pathos  of  the  German  hymns,  sung  by  a  whole  family  around 


198         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

the  supper  table,  and  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  single  piano  such 
as  you  see  in  every  German  household,  haunted  him  like  a 
dream  .  .  . 

And  when  by  degrees  he  began  to  realize  that  this  country, 
which  but  a  few  years  back  had  been  cursed  by  a  foreign  tongue, 
had  now,  by  a  supreme  magnificent  effort,  created  its  own  language, 
and  a  literature  unsurpassed  for  richness  and  sweetness,  he  satu- 
rated himself  with  the  poetry  and  philosophy  of  the  country, 
which  gave  a  new  color  and  embellishment  to  life. 

Not  that  he  troubled  himself  much  about  the  cloudy  meta- 
physics of  this  school  or  that,  or  the  fine  hair-splitting  of  philo- 
sophical mountebanks,  who  ridiculed  the  scholastics  for  logic 
chopping,  yet  imitated  in  untruth  the  worst  systems  they  con- 
demned; but  he  allowed  the  fine  mists  and  mountain  dews  of 
Schiller,  Richter  and  Novalis  to  wrap  him  round,  and  saturate 
his  spirit,  and  he  thanked  God  that  He  had  given  poets  to  the 
world. 

No  doubt  the  fact  that  one  of  the  first  marks  of  appre- 
ciation of  his  work  came  to  him  from  Germany  had  much  to 
do  with  his  desire  to  visit  that  country,  all  the  more,  since, 
as  we  have  seen,  his  leanings  toward  German  thought  had 
begun  at  Maynooth  with  his  readings  of  Carlyle.  The 
Canon's  brother,  Mr.  Denis  Sheehan,  speaks  of  the  welcome 
given  to  the  Canon's  work  by  German  critics: 

The  extraordinary  chorus  of  appreciation  in  the  Press  of  Ger- 
many of  all  shades  of  religious  opinion  was  a  great  surprise  and 
gratification  to  Father  Sheehan.  Luke  Delmege  is  considered  by 
Germans  as  his  best  work,  and  he  received  many  letters  from 
Protestants  as  well  as  from  Catholics  dealing  with  references  in 
the  book,  and  asking  for  explanations  on  points  of  religious 
belief,  &c. 

Much  of  this  may  have  been  due  to  his  expressed  admi- 
ration for  the  German  methods  of  study,  especially  of  the 
sciences.     Of  this  his  brother  says: 

The  study  of  mathematics  was  advocated  by  him  as  the  best 
kind  of  mind-training  for  the  reasoning  powers;  and  to  his  own 
special  love  for  this  branch  of  study  may  be  attributed  his  interest 
in  Astronomy.     He   kept   in   touch   with   each  new  theory   and 


Chap.  VIII]        A  HOLIDAY   IN  GERMANY  199 

speculation  regarding  the  problems  of  this  science  of  Astronomy 
and  studied  the  books  and  scientific  articles  as  they  appeared. 
He  could  not  conceive  how  any  one  could  be  an  atheist  who  would 
ponder  on  the  mystery  of  the  universe,  and  often  he  said  that  there 
is  no  education  where  the  young  mind  is  not  taught  to  study  the 
beauty  and  wonders  of  nature  around  us,  and  the  illimitable 
splendor  of  the  Heavens. 

But  what  Father  Sheehan  had  learned  most  to  value 
in  the  German  people,  as  he  tells  us  elsewhere,  was  their 
habit  of  orderly  organization  and  strict  rule  of  seriousness 
and  service,  allied  with  the  poetry  and  music  which  are 
part  of  their  lives.  It  had  inspired  him  with  ideals  of  what 
he  wanted  to  see  his  own  people  cultivate  by  means  of  a 
revised  educational  system.  He  was  convinced  that  the 
Celtic  nature  possessed  such  extraordinary  gifts  of  its  own, 
that  these,  when  brought  to  efficiency  by  the  wholesome 
discipline  of  methodical  training,  would  produce  in  the 
rising  generation,  and  in  an  atmosphere  of  newly  acquired 
freedom,  a  new  nation  that  might  vie  in  intellectual  and  moral 
power  with  the  strongest  in  the  world.  For,  better  than 
rule  of  sword  or  cannon,  was  the  gentle  sway  of  a  Christian 
civilization  that  utilized  the  resources  of  such  a  race  and 
country.  This  is  what  he  dreamt  of  as  the  ideal  of  Ireland's 
emancipation.     Hence,  as  he  says  of  Luke: 

He  never  abandoned  his  German  studies  during  all  his  after- 
life. He  had  conceived  the  original  and  apparently  extravagant 
idea  of  engrafting  German  ideas  and  German  habits  and  manners 
on  the  peasantry  at  home;  and  he  had  written  one  thoughtful 
article  on  the  affinity  between  German  and  Irish  thought  and 
tradition.  He  thought  to  show  that  German  idealism  and  Celtic 
mysticism  were  the  same;  and  that  the  issue  of  an  alliance  between 
the  thoughts  and  sympathies  of  these  nations  should  necessarily 
be  a  happy  one. 

It  was  in  July  of  1904  that  Canon  Sheehan  at  length 
crossed  the  English  Channel  on  his  way  to  the  Rhine  coun- 
try. He  wished,  while  getting  a  vacation,  to  try  the 
curative  effects  of  the  famous  saline  baths  at  Nauheim  in 
Hesse.     His  lodgings  were  for  a  time  at  the  Imperial  Hotel, 


200         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

but  the  noise  from  the  trains  at  night  compelled  him  to 
exchange  his  quarters  for  apartments  at  the  Augusta  Vic- 
toria. These  happened  to  be  more  sumptuous.  In  a  letter 
to  a  nun  of  the  Presentation  Convent  at  Doneraile  he  com- 
plains of  the  unaccustomed  comforts  to  the  guests  there. 
"I  am  pretty  tired  of  all  the  splendour  and  magnificence 
of  this  place;  and  pining  for  my  desk  and  garden.  But  for 
a  lazy  fashionable  person  who  could  enjoy  the  style  and 
music  and  eating  and  drinking,  and  idleness,  it  would  be 
a  Paradise;  for  it  certainly  is  a  beautiful  place,  and  the 
attractions  are  numberless.  A  magnificent  string  band 
plays  three  times  a  day,  each  performance  lasting  two 
hours."  He  sketches  the  park  where  the  people  sit  enjoying 
the  outdoor  scenes  and  the  music  all  day  long.  "And  the 
beautiful  feature  is  that  there  is  no  distinction  of  persons. 
A  woman  who  might  be  from  Tea-pot  Lane  sits  down  at  the 
table  next  to  some  howling  swells;  and  the  waiters  approach 
her  and  take  her  orders  as  deferentially  as  for  the  others. 
Of  course  all  are  well  dressed;  and  the  order  and  politeness 
are  beyond  all  praise.  No  one  stares  you  out  of  counte- 
nance, or  takes  the  least  notice  of  you,  although  I  am  wearing 
a  hat  that,  I  say  it  without  vanity,  is  the  most  remarkable 
object  in  Nauheim.  Once,  I  think,  I  heard  a  young  lady 
whisper  to  her  companion:  'Ein  Jesuit,'  but  that  was  all, 
and  I  took  no  offence." 

But  even  in  this  foreign  land  he  did  not  escape  the  notice 
which  is  bound  to  follow  the  hterary  celebrity.  As  soon  as 
he  had  registered  at  the  hotel,  the  Cologne  Volkszeitung 
found  him  out  and  promptly  gazetted  him  as  the  Irish 
Writer  of  clerical  stories.  "Yesterday,"  he  writes,  "I  had 
an  invasion  from  Fulda,  to-day  a  letter  welcoming  me  to  the 
Vaterland,  and  I  am  afraid  I  am  in  for  trouble."  Later  on 
he  mentions  the  pleasure  it  gave  him  to  learn  from  a  German 
priest,  who  had  i6o  children  in  his  school,  that  whenever  the 
children  got  a  holiday  they  would  ask  the  priest  to  read  them 
one  of  the  Irish  priest's  stories.  "Can  any  man's  ambition," 
he  asks,  "go  higher.?"  He  comments  on  the  Prussian 
public   school   system   with    its   orderly   methods    and   its 


Chap.  VIII]       A   HOLIDAY   IN   GERMANY  2oi 

respect  for  religious  convictions.  "In  the  Catholic  (State) 
schools  the  teachers  march  the  children  to  daily  Mass  at 
6.30  A.M.  School  commences  at  seven  and  goes  on  till 
eleven  o'clock.  The  older  children  go  to  work  for  the 
remainder  of  the  day;  the  infants  and  young  children 
return  in  the  afternoon.  The  teachers  are  paid  from  90 
to  180  pounds  a  year;  and  the  priest  is  not  only  manager 
but  inspector.  A  government  official  comes  round  every 
three  years;  but  he  is  of  no  account."  He  observed  the 
national  pecuharities  and  especially  the  religious  customs  of 
the  Catholic  population.  Many  of  their  practices  struck 
him  as  greatly  helpful  to  piety.  "Over  every  grave  in  the 
cemetery,"  he  writes,  "I  read  *Hier  ruht  in  Gott'  (Here 
rests  in  God),  etc.  I  almost  cried  when  I  read  over  the 
grave  of  a  tiny  child:  'Ruhe  sanft'  (Sleep  softly)." 
One  of  the  first  things  he  did  on  his  return  to  Doneraile 
was  to  introduce  the  custom,  prevalent  in  many  German 
churches  in  the  Rhine  country,  to  ring  the  church  bell  at 
the  Elevation  during  Mass  and  at  Benediction  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  so  that  all  those  who  hear  it,  whether  in  the 
church  or  at  their  work,  may  make  a  momentary  spiritual 
communion  and  join  in  the  intention  of  those  at  the  altar. 
Of  this  custom  faithfully  maintained  in  Doneraile  he  said: 
"It  is  one  of  the  best  things  that  I  have  done  in  my  Hfe 
for  my  people." 

Though  his  sojourn  at  Nauheim  was  of  comparatively 
short  duration  he  gathered  a  good  deal  of  interesting  infor- 
mation. "This  is  a  cosmopoHtan  place,"  he  observes, 
"Russian,  English,  Hungarian,  Swedes,  and  the  ubiquitous 
American." 

Toward  the  end  of  September  he  returned,  and  writes : 

Doneraile,  Sept.  24,  1904. 
Dear  Father  Heuser, 

Just  arrived  from  Germany  to  find  your  letter  before  me.  I 
have  only  time  to  say  that  you  may  omit  anything  you  deem  in 
individual  expressions  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  story. 
The  expression  which  I  think  you  object  to,  was  used  not  long 
ago  to  a  friend  of  mine  who  regarded  it  as  a  joke. 


202  CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part  II 

I  intended,  as  in  the  case  of  my  priestly  characters,  to  make  the 
"Yank"  a  lovable  character;  but  I  find  that  in  cases  of  racial  or 
class  prejudices  people  won't  reason,  but  prefer  to  fasten  on  a 
cause  of  complaint. 

Always  sincerely. 

P.  A.  Sheehan, 

In  another  note  of  the  same  date  he  adds: 

Last  night  I  wrote  you  a  hasty  letter,  lest  I  should  miss  the 
American  mail.     Since  then  I  have  gone  over  the  first  chapter  .  .  . 

I  am  quite  enthusiastic  about  all  I  saw  in  Germany.  Equally 
depressed  with  the  contrast  with  my  own  poor  country  which  the 
Irish  in  America  are  steadily  depopulating. 

I  think  Glenanaar,  though  short,  is  the  most  perfect  piece 
of  work  I  have  yet  executed. 

I  spelled  the  name  of  the  romance  phonetically  —  Glenanaar, 
as  it  is  usually  pronounced  here.  But  perhaps  I  would  spare  my- 
self some  criticism  from  the  Gaelic  League  if  the  word  were  printed 
correctly  —  Glenanair. 

I  see  you  have  the  correct  spelling  in  the  Dol-phin.  The  greater 
part  of  the  valley  is  in  my  parish  of  Doneraile. 

To  his  friend  Justice  Holmes,  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  he  writes  under  date  of  September  29,  1904: 

I  had  a  pleasant  three  weeks  in  Nauheim,  Germany.  All  that 
good  government,  solicitous  for  the  progress  of  its  people,  could 
do,  has  been  done  for  this  charming  place.  And  the  people!  —  a 
calm,  grave,  courteous  people,  enjoying  life  without  noise  or  ex- 
citement, and  infinitely  polite  to  each  other  and  to  strangers. 

Although  Canon  Sheehan  had  profited  by  his  brief  sojourn 
on  the  Continent  and  felt  materially  better,  an  insistent 
illness  was  gradually  stealing  its  way  into  his  vitals  and 
sapping  his  constitution.  It  was  a  consolation  to  him  that 
he  had  earned  to  some  extent  the  fruits  of  his  literary  labors 
—  a  grateful  recognition  from  a  wide  circle  of  readers. 
The  Holy  Father,  made  familiar  with  "Daddy  Dan"  in  an 
Italian  translation,  had  sent  him  the  title  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity;  and  his  own  Bishop  had  made  him  a  Canon  of 
his  diocesan  cathedral.     His  energy,  as  well  as  his  convic- 


Chap.  VIII]      A   HOLIDAY   IN   GERMANY  203 

tions,  were  such  as  to  urge  him  to  labor  on  as  long  as  pos- 
sible. But  he  now  began  —  for  somehow  he  saw  his  earthly 
end  was  not  far  off — to  make  provision  for  his  eternal 
home.  The  following  letter  speaks  for  itself,  and  shows  both 
his  attachment  to  the  priests  of  his  diocese  and  the  unself- 
ish charity  which  actuated  him  in  his  work. 

DoNER.\iLE,  Co.  Cork. 
June  7,  1905. 

My  dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

I  have  assigned  to  my  Bishop  and  trustees  all  my  literary  prop- 
erty, including  Glenanaar,  for  the  support  of  the  sick  and  aged 
priests  of  this  diocese. 

I  write  to  ask  you  to  continue  to  them  the  favour  you  have  so 
generously  bestowed  upon  me,  of  holding  for  them  the  "Dolphin" 
plates  of  my  book.  I  don't  know  whether  my  publishers  have 
brought  out  a  second  American  edition  from  those  plates;  but  I 
am  quite  sure  the  Bishop  will  manage  them  better  than  I  have 
been  able  to  do. 

Probably  you  will  hear  from  His  Lordship  on  the  subject;  and 
I  am  sure  that,  considering  the  object  for  which  I  am  transferring 
all  my  property,  you  will  grant  them  all  the  facility  in  your  power. 

Always  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 


IX 

"lisheen" 

DURING  the  next  tv/o  years  the  Canon,  besides 
writing  some  few  reviews  of  books,  employed  his 
spare  hours  in  composing  a  new  novel.  It  had  to 
do  with  Irish  life,  but  with  a  peculiar  phase  of  its  traditions 
and  trials.  He  meant  once  more  emphatically  to  voice 
the  agony  of  the  peasantry  at  home  whose  children  were 
forced  continually  to  listen  to  the  siren  calls  from  America. 
The  young  folks  were  urging  their  elders  to  leave  the  land 
of  their  fathers  in  order  that  they  might  improve  their 
condition: 

"I  think  there  is  nayther  sinse  or  raison  in  our  stopping  here, 
toiling  from  morning  to  night,  making  money  for  the  landlord, 
when  there's  a  free  counthry  only  five  days'  journey  across  the 
wather.  Let  us  all  sell  out  in  God's  name.  Lizzie  is  dying  to 
have  us  all  in  Boston,  where  nayther  you  nor  father  need  ever  wet 
your  hands  agin;  but  have  carpets  ondher  yere  feet  an'  the  best 
of  atin'  an'  dhrinkin'.     Come  let  us  go  in  God's  name." 

The  young  Irish  girl  spoke  earnestly,  almost  passionately. 
It  was  her  thought  sleeping  and  waking. 

The  poor  old  mother  was  silently  weeping  .  .  .  Here  she  was 
born  (for  Owen  McAuliffe  had  merely  come  in  with  a  couple  of 
hundred  pounds  from  the  County  of  Limerick);  here  she  was 
brought  up;  here  she  learnt  her  prayers  and  first  lessons;  here  she 
said  good-bye  to  her  dead  parents;  here,  on  this  kitchen  floor,  she 
had  danced  the  night  of  her  marriage;  and  here  were  her  eight 
children  born  and  brought  up  with  her  more  than  usual  solicitude. 
She  knew  every  rafter  in  the  blackened  roof,  every  stone  in  the 
fireplace,  every  bush  on  the  hedge,  every  tree  around  the  fields. 
Each  winter  had  brought  its  songs  and  stories,  for  sixty  years 
around  that  hearth  —  every  summer  the  golden  fields  and  the 
cross  roads  dances. 

True,  her  life  had  been  a  life  of  sorrow  and  hardship;  but  these 
very  things  consecrated  the  place  still  more.     Every  soul  loves  the 

204 


Chap.  IX]  "LISHEEN"  205 

place  of  its  crucifixion;  and  her  humble  Calvary  was  knit  into  her 
life  like  a  living  thing.  —  And  to  think  of  leaving  all  that  and  going 
away  into  a  strange,  mysterious  country,  a  peopled  desert,  where 
for  every  one  that  crossed  its  desolation  and  emerged  successful 
a  hundred  had  gone  down  and  were  lost.  Oh  no!  the  thought 
was  too  dreadful;  and  it  broke  out  into  the  eloquence  of  her  silent 
tears. 

Lisheen  appeared  in  book  form  in  1907,  after  running 
serially  in  the  Catholic  World  of  New  York.  Father  Russell 
comments  on  it  as  follows: 

St.  F.  Xavier's,  Dublin,  Jan.  3. 
Dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

"Lisheen"  begins  with  immense  spirit.  The  Catholic  World 
will  be  run  upon  this  year.  It  has  begun  by  putting  you  and 
Father  Benson  side  by  side.  What  amazing  fertility  that  young 
priest  is  showing! 

Did  you  purposely  repeat  down  there  within  two  lines  at  foot  of 
page  491,  with  down  in  the  intermediate  line.'* 

You  are  very  judiciously  moderate  in  the  use  of  patois.  I  do 
not  know  what  difference  the  h  makes  in  bhoy. 

Lady  Gilbert's  "Mary  O'Murrough"  is  running  its  course 
since  the  Christmas  Number  in  the  Freeman's  Journal.  She  is 
not  so  sure  as  you  of  a  first-class  publisher  for  the  next  stage  of 
her  novel's  existence. 

Macte  virtute.     Prospere  procede. 

Ever  yours  affectionately, 

Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

A  critic  in  the  Dublin  Reviezv,  comparing  the  story  with 
Rene  Bazin's  La  Terre  qui  meurt,  severely  censured  it  for 
its  vivid  portrayal  of  the  monster  of  Landlordism  as  the 
chief  source  of  all  the  sufferings  of  the  Irish  people. 

Perhaps  Canon  Sheehan  does  not  think  his  public  capable  of 
entering  into  more  difficult  economic  questions,  and  we  are  the 
more  led  to  think  this,  as  we  have  long  been  of  opinion  that  he 
has  too  great  a  contempt  for  his  readers.  He  cannot  believe  that 
we  are  really  contented  with  any  thing  so  simple  and  so  homely 
as  the  lives  of  the  Irish-poor. 

It  was  hardly  a  fair  judgment.  Canon  Sheehan  had 
no    contempt    for   his    readers.     He    merely    expressed    his 


2o6         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

abiding  love  for  his  people  at  home,  and  for  the  exiles  that 
had  been  driven  away  to  seek  a  better  lot  in  foreign  lands. 
Affection  for  his  countrymen,  dictated  by  his  Irish  heart, 
resented  and  sought  the  causes  of  the  abject  condition  in 
which  they  found  themselves.  Like  every  artist  who  is 
also  a  moralist  or  a  reformer  (and  as  a  priest  he  was  both), 
he  felt  bound  to  expose  what  seemed  to  be  the  very  root  of 
the  wrongs  under  which  his  people  were  smarting. 

As  for  his  literary  power,  critics  were  agreed  that  Canon 
Sheehan's  genius  was  such  as  "to  enthrall  the  reader  by  his 
most  wonderful  presentments  of  living  beings."  His  chap- 
ters are  "brimful  of  life,  of  sunshine  and  shadow,  and  of  the 
sweetest  virtues,  and  of  a  most  brilliant  pathos."  Naturally 
the  defenders  of  English  rule  in  Ireland  would  not  have  him 
discredit  landlordism  by  stigmatizing  it  in  his  portrayal  of 
"Major  Outram,"  and  others  of  his  characters.  They 
preferred  that  the  Irish  writer  should  confine  himself  to 
studies  of  Irish  life  such  as  James  Matthew  Barrie  gave 
us  of  Scotch  life  in  a  Window  in  Thrums.  But  most  of  Canon 
Sheehan's  readers  felt  that,  "if  we  cannot  always  have 
such  complete  joys  as  My  Nezu  Curate,  we  might  at  least 
be  allowed  to  see  and  learn  the  great  lessons  he  can  teach 
us  from  the  Irish  race.  It  matters  not  whether  this  be  done 
in  short  studies  or  in  complete  novels,  so  long  as  he  allows 
free  play  to  the  true  artist  and  genius,  unsurpassed  by  any 
one  living  in  his  portrayal  of  Irish  life."^ 

If  it  be  true  that  Canon  Sheehan's  genius  is  "unsurpassed 
in  his  portrayal  of  Irish  life,"  it  is  equally  true  that  he  shows 
no  less  skill  and  accuracy  in  picturing  certain  English 
types  to  which  chiefly  the  Irish  people  owe  their  trials. 
Lisheen  is  a  thrilling  story  in  which  the  actual  miseries 
begotten  of  landlordism  are  contrasted  with  the  systematic 
improvements  proposed  by  a  party  of  benevolent  reformers 
in  Ireland.  The  descriptions  of  scenery  and  action  are 
singularly  graphic.  There  is  a  double  vein  of  romance 
running  through  the  narrative;  and  the  picture  of  "Father 
Cosgrove"  furnishes  the  religious  motive  to  the  whole. 

^  Dublin  Review,  Jan.  1908,  pp.  185-187. 


Chap.  IX]  "LISHEEN"  207 

The  following  letter  to  Canon  Sheehan  from  Mr.  William 
O'Brien,  M.P.,  who  gives  his  impression  on  reading  the 
book,  is  of  interest. 

St.  Ames  Hill,  Hydro,  Co.  Cork. 
Oct.  1907. 
My  dear  Canon  Patrick, 

I  delayed  writing  to  thank  you  for  the  copy  of  "Lisheen"  until 
I  should  have  read  it  through.  I  have  now  done  so  from  beginning 
to  end  with  an  intense  psychological  interest  which  no  work  of 
fiction  has  raised  in  me  for  many  a  day.  Since  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  disappeared  there  has  been  nothing  that  succeeds  so  well 
in  putting  one  into  a  cheerful  mood  with  human  nature,  while 
not  shirking  the  many  dark  and  tragic  events  that  sometimes 
make  the  most  hopeful  of  us  a  little  sick  of  heart.  You  may  be 
interested  to  hear  we  have  staying  at  a  cottage,  attached  to  this 
place,  a  living  viva  voce  of  your  original  conception  of  Maxwell 
—  its  counterpart  in  real  life.  He  is  a  Scottish  Captain  Dundas 
(married  by-the-way  to  a  Mallow  lady).  It  is  a  most  singular 
combination  both  of  Maxwell  and  of  Hamberton.  He  goes  every 
year  —  to  Kerry,  of  all  places  —  to  spend  some  weeks  with  the 
Dingle  fishermen,  as  one  of  themselves  —  feeds  on  their  potatoes 
and  milk,  and  sleeps  on  a  truckle  by  the  cabin  fire  —  then  comes 
back  greatly  refreshed  in  body  and  soul.  More  interesting  to  me 
even  than  the  story  are  the  glimpses  of  your  own  psychical  travail 
which  I  seem  to  get  constantly  through  its  pages  and  in  all  of  which 
our  joys  and  sadness  of  the  recluse  are  so  strangely  alike.  The 
book  will,  I  am  sure,  do  a  vast  deal  to  give  intelligent  strangers  a 
better  opinion  of  us  than  we  can  sometimes  get  to  have  of  ourselves. 

My  wife  wishes  your  acceptance  of  a  little  book  of  her  own 
which  to  my  masculine  and  perhaps  bigoted  judgment  seems  to 
be  a  very  sweet  glimpse  of  the  woman-world.  Pray,  don't 
trouble  to  reply,  as  she  and  I  know  that  the  book  will  pass  under 
sympathetic  eyes. 

My  own  European  sketches  are  too  slight  for  separate  publica- 
tion, but  you  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  while  away  and  freed  from 
the  horrors  of  Irish  public  affairs  I  scribbled  a  series  of  "Chats 
with  Young  Irishmen  "  which  may  be  an  answer  to  your  suggestion. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Canon  Patrick, 

Your  aiFectionate  friend, 

William  O'Brien. 


2o8         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

The  Canon  himself  explains  the  purpose  of  his  story  in  a 
rhythmic  answer  to  a  friend  who  had  asked  him,  "Why 
did  you  write  Lisheen?  " 

"Why  did  I  write  Lisheen?*^  — To  show 

The  claims  of  brotherhood  and  kin; 

The  deep  broad  streams  of  Love  that  flow 

In  peers'  and  peasants'  hearts  —  the  sin 

Of  broken  plighted  vows  —  the  Fate 

That  follows  over  land  and  sea 

On  wheel  and  rudder  them  that  flee 

The  boundless  bounds  of  the  Estate 

Of  Right  and  Law  inviolate! 

If  Nemesis  relentless  be, 

And  Fate  has  seals  of  certainty, 

The  spirit  that  has  borne  the  test 

Of  spirits  ranks  amongst  the  best  — 

The  bravest  who  aspire  to  be 

The  Bayards  of  Humanity! 

DoNERAiLE,  Ireland 
Nov.  gth  1907 

He  sent  a  copy  of  the  book  to  Mr.  Justice  Holmes,  who 
writes  from  Washington,  November  7,  1907: 

I  thank  you  for  sending  me  your  novel.  It  has  the  same  sweet 
idealism,  the  same  poetic  turn,  that  I  know,  the  same  tender  feel- 
ing. I  wish  that  I  had  something  to  send  in  return  —  but  I  fear 
that  a  few  timely  words  on  res  judicata  or  on  the  police  power  of 
the  State  might  not  give  you  the  same  pleasure.  When  I  got  back 
I  stopped  at  a  hotel  in  Boston,  and  was  talking  with  a  waiter  I 
knew  and  telling  him  I  had  been  in  Ireland,  County  Cork.  He 
asked  me  if  I  had  been  in  the  neighborhood  of  Doneraile.  I 
said:  yes.  Whereupon  he  asked  if  I  had  seen  Canon  Sheehan. 
It  seems  that  he  was  a  reader  and  admirer  of  your  works. 
Every  little  counts.  And  as  an  admirer  is  the  vehicle  of  truth 
it  matters  not  that  he  is  humble.  I  am  working  hard  and  do  not 
often  get  a  breathing  space  before  dinner,  and  afterwards  I  find  it 
wise  not  to  read  or  write.  Therefore  I  have  read  your  novel  by 
snatches  —  ten  minutes  at  a  time.  I  think  your  fashionable 
people  and  men  of  the  world  are  not  quite  so  real  as  your  peas- 
ants; and  I  wonder  whether  there  is  not  implied  too  wholesale 
a  condemnation  of  the  fashionable  world. 


Chap.  IX]  "LISHEEN"  209 

No  doubt  Justice  Holmes  was  right.  Canon  Sheehan 
had  had  only  a  partial  taste  of  the  life  of  modern  society. 
He  thought  much  of  it  to  be  artificial,  and  he  was  not  inclined 
to  study  it  or  to  regard  it  with  leniency,  Matthew  Russell 
had  told  him  plainly  in  another  connection  that  therein 
he  failed. 


X 

RELIGIO-POLITICAL    DISCUSSIONS 

WHILE  Canon  Sheehan  was  filling  out  his  hours  of 
leisure  from  pastoral  work  by  the  writing  of  cleri- 
cal romances  and  occasional  poems,  he  did  not 
at  any  time  lose  sight  of  the  political  situation  which  prom- 
ised a  new  dawn  of  liberty  and  religious  development  for 
Ireland.  He  watched  the  influential  journals;  made  sys- 
tematic notes  of  facts  and  occurrences,  as  they  struck  him, 
so  that  they  might  serve  him  in  his  instructions,  lectures, 
and  sermons.  He  commented  on  pubhc  events  and  per- 
sonal incidents,  and  jotted  down  the  moral  which  he  drew 
from  them.  He  analyzed  important  utterances  of  popular 
books  and  magazine  articles;  and  he  kept  himself  informed 
of  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  With  a  keen 
interest  that  sought  to  apply  each  fact  to  the  processes  of 
home  government,  he  followed  the  political  movements  in 
England  and  abroad.  His  mind  was  bent  on  doing  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  promote  the  struggle  for  Home  Rule 
among  his  people.  From  time  to  time  he  sent  his  impres- 
sions touching  political  matters  to  the  newspapers;  nearly 
always  anonymously. 

Among  the  more  notable  criticisms  written  by  him  at 
this  time  was  a  review  of  an  important  volume  by  a  Limerick 
priest.  Dr.  Michael  O'Riordan,  at  present  Rector  of  the 
Irish  College  in  Rome,  with  whom  he  had  occasion  to  dis- 
cuss the  religio-political  crisis  that  seemed  to  call  for  the 
active  participation  of  the  Irish  clergy.  Dr.  O'Riordan 
had  urged  the  Canon  to  undertake  the  editorship  of  a 
monthly  magazine  for  the  defense,  independently,  of  national 
and  Catholic  principles.  In  Catholicity  and  Progress  in 
Ireland  ^  the  Limerick  churchman  had  given  an  answer  to 

^London:    Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Truebner  &  Co.,  1905. 
210 


Chap.  X]       RELIGIO-POLITICAL   DISCUSSIONS  211 

Sir  Horace  Plunkett's  recently  published  volume  Ireland 
in  the  New  Century.  The  latter  was  chairman  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Board  of  Ireland.  He  believed  he  saw  certain 
great  evils  existent  in  his  country,  and  he  set  himself  with 
free  valor,  as  the  Canon  says,  to  encounter  and  overcome 
them.  He  planned,  organized,  lectured,  traveled,  spared 
neither  money,  time,  nor  trouble  to  push  on  "the  industrial 
development"  of  Ireland.  Finally  he  wrote  his  book,  which 
aroused  the  widespread  disapprobation  of  his  countrymen, 
but  especially  the  Catholics.  The  baronet  had  sought  to 
demonstrate  that  the  real  cause  of  Ireland's  backwardness, 
industrially,,  educationally,  and  in  every  other  way  was 
chargeable  to  the  Catholic  clergy.  He  instanced  the  extrava- 
gance of  Irish  Catholics  in  church  building.  That  fact 
alone  was,  in  his  estimation,  a  proof  of  their  utter  lack  of 
individuality  and  self-reliance.  In  their  efforts  to  erect 
costly  houses  of  worship  they  were  retarding  industrial 
progress,  while  actually  following  the  mere  whims  of  men 
who  sought  their  own  aggrandizement.  Dr.  O'Riordan 
answers  this  and  similar  charges  of  Sir  Horace  Plunkett's 
in  a  direct  and  caustic  way;  and  Canon  Sheehan  adds  his 
approving  comment  by  enlarging  upon  the  iniquities  of 
the  cliques  who  dominate  Irish  life,  while  they  fasten  the 
results  of  their  ill-doing  upon  the  people.  He  retorts  in 
bitter  irony: 

It  is  not  inequitable  land  laws,  it  is  not  evil  administration,  it 
is  not  crushing  taxes,  it  is  not  absenteeism,  that  are  the  causes  of 
Irish  misery;  it  is  the  fact  that  the  Irish  are  taught  by  their  re- 
ligion to  place  their  hopes  in  another  world;  that  they  build 
churches,  hospitals,  schools,  convents,  but  will  not  give  a  penny 
to  ironclads  and  factories;  and  that  the  Irish  priest  is  the  cause  of 
all  this  painful  retrogression,  and  has  besides  stamped  out  the  vital- 
ity of  the  race  by  a  rigid  and  despotic  enforcement  of  a  chastity 
which  another  writer  has  described  as  "awful." 

The  reader  is  informed  from  government  figures  about 
the  unequal  cost  of  carrying  on  the  Union;  he  gets  a  fair 
view  of  the  moral  character  of  the  population  by  compara- 
tive lists  of  criminality  in  different  sections  of  the  country 


212        CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  III 

where  Catholics  and  Protestants  Hve  separately;  and  he 
learns  that  the  tenants'  earnings  have  gone  to  absentee 
landlords,  to  the  amount,  within  a  few  years  of  the  last 
century,  of  ten  million  dollars  annually.  This  money 
was  spent  anywhere  except  in  the  country  where  it  was 
made.  It  becomes  very  plain  how  much  the  industrial 
conditions  of  the  time  are  due  to  this  annual  drain  made 
by  the  landowners.  The  total  was  twenty  millions  before 
1830,  and  had  risen  to  thirty  millions  before  the  year  1843. 
We  learn  also,  what  is  not  a  little  surprising  in  view  of  the 
general  assumption  that  Ireland  is  a  priest-ridden  country, 
that  of  the  parochial  clergy  there  is  but  one  priest  to  every 
1206  Catholics,  whereas  there  is  one  Episcopalian  parson 
for  every  331  church  members;  one  Presbyterian  minister 
for  every  554  Presbyterians;  and  one  Methodist  minister 
for  every  248  Methodists.  We  are  thus  shown  the  advantage 
Protestants  have  by  reason  of  the  abundant  revenues  that 
go  to  the  landlords  and  public  officials,  apart  from  their 
social  influence,  their  patronage,  and  political  power.  And 
what  have  they  done,  with  all  this  wealth,  for  Ireland? 
"As  a  body  Irish  Protestants  have  lived  in  Ireland,  that  is  to 
say,  they  lived  on  Ireland,  not  for  Ireland."  They  lived 
out  of  the  country  as  much  as  they  could.  In  other  words 
they  have  misspent  their  opportunity  and  their  power  to 
improve  Irish  industrial  conditions.  They  had  their  day; 
and  as  soon  as  there  appeared  signs  of  their  declining 
influence,  owing  to  the  Home  Rule  movement,  they  wanted 
to  persuade  the  public  that  the  undeveloped  condition 
of  the  country  is  due  to  the  uneconomic  trend  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  to  the  uneconomic  character  of  the  people  directed 
by  their  priests.  These  are  the  arguments  upon  which 
the  Canon  enlarges.  In  a  similar  vein  he  sent  occasional 
contributions  to  the  daily  and  weekly  press  of  Cork  and 
Dublin. 

Among  his  letters  of  this  period  we  find  one  addressed 
to  his  friend,  the  author  of  Her  Majesty's  Rebels,  the  poet 
Lysaght. 


Chap.  X]      RELIGIO-POLITICAL   DISCUSSIONS  213 

DONERAILE 

October  27,  '09. 

Dear  Mr.  Lysaght, 

I  was  greatly  pleased  to  hear  from  you  and  to  know  that  you 
contemplate  returning  to  the  old  land  again.  I  belong  to  the 
Thomas  Davis  school  of  politics,  which  would  band  all  Irishmen 
in  one  common  phalanx  for  the  betterment  of  our  common  country, 
and  I  hope  these  ideas,  now  repudiated,  may  yet  prevail  .  .  . 
But  Ireland  has  changed  a  good  deal.  .  .  .  Father  Finlay  and  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett  would  be  almost  alarmed  to  find  how  far  they 
have  made  the  fine  old  Irish  people  a  "commercial"  nation. 

You  are  doing  well  in  giving  us  another  volume  of  poems.  I 
do  not  know  any  poems  that  appeal  to  me  so  strongly  in  their 
melancholy  music  as  yours.  That  opening  poem  about  the 
"camaraderie"  of  the  failures  haunts  me.  You  won't  think  me 
impertinent  if  I  say  that  the  less  agnostic  your  future  volume  is 
the  greater  chance  has  it  of  success  with  the  public.  Swinburne 
owes  his  failure  in  catching  the  "aura"  of  popularity  to  his  earlier 
poems,  although  he  partially  repudiated  them  and  almost  apolo- 
gised for  them;  and  Tennyson  owed  a  great  part  of  his  success  to 
the  fact  that  he  gave  a  doubting  and  anxious  world  some  little 
substitute  for  lost  faiths.  The  world  can  never  do  without  reli- 
gion. In  Art,  Literature,  even  in  Science  it  is  always  predomi- 
nant. 

Acknowledging  the  receipt  of  some  other  volumes  of  the 
same  author,  he  writes: 

I  hold  you  now  in  fee  —  your  morning  with  all  its  dreams  and 
despondencies  and  lyric  tenderness;  —  your  noon  with  all  its 
beautiful  retrospects  and  hopes.  Now  let  us  have  your  evening- 
thoughts  "over  the  teacups  and  the  fire"  —  a  grand  psalm  of 
Christian  hope  and  optimism.     You  can  do  it. 

The  note  of  Christian  hope  which  Canon  Sheehan  here 
suggests  sounds  more  distinctly  out  of  Mr.  Lysaght's  next 
volume,  Horizons  and  Landmarks} 

The  Canon  had  written  a  number  of  articles  for  the  Dublin 
papers  on  the  political  situation  in  Ireland;  and  this  gave 
him  occasion  to  emphasize  the  boon  of  religious  liberty 
enjoyed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States.     He  discusses 

1  Macmillan:   London,  191 1. 


214         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

the  subject  to  some  extent  in  his  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Justice  Holmes,  and  at  the  same  time  answers  his  friend's 
strictures  upon  an  article  by  Monsignor  Benson,  which  had 
appeared  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  and  in  which  the  English 
convert  interprets  the  signs  of  the  times  as  showing  that  the 
future  belongs  to  the  Cathohc  Church. 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK, 

August  26,  1910. 

Dear  Dr.  Holmes, 

You  are  very  much  in  my  mind  these  last  few  weeks,  probably 
because  of  the  Autumn  holidays  or  perhaps  it  was  a  presentiment 
of  your  letter  for  which  I  was  craving.  The  great  want  of  my  life 
is  lack  of  intellectual  intercourse;  and  your  letters  are  a  stimulus 
that  drives  me  from  the  superficialities  of  daily  life  into  depths  of 
thought  where  I  have  no  temptation  otherwise  to  plunge. 

I  think  Fr.  Benson's  forecast  of  the  future  of  the  Church  in 
America  is  not  altogether  chimerical,  although  probably  his 
reasons  for  thinking  so  are  quite  diflFerent  from  mine.  Whether 
America  is  yet  in  its  adolescence,  or  whether  it  be  the  result  of 
chmatic  conditions,  there  is  a  certain  buoyancy  and  delightful 
optimism  in  the  character  of  the  nation  that  is  very  much  akin  to 
the  Catholic  spirit.  And  there  is  also  depth  of  feeling  and  gener- 
osity which  the  older  nations  have  long  since  cast  aside  m  favour 
of  the  "critical  spirit."  All  this  tells  in  favour  of  the  Church;  and 
I  think  if  some  great  thinker  could  reveal  the  inner  serenity,  and 
sense  of  security,  with  the  occasional  raptures  that  belong  to  certain 
choice  spirits,  particularly  in  our  cloistered  communities,  half  of 
America  would  rush  away  from  the  fever  of  modern  life,  like  the 
anchorites  of  old,  and  bury  themselves  in  monasteries. 

Would  you  be  surprised  to  hear  that  in  what  you  say  about 
"intellect,"  you  come  very  near  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the 
Church,  especially  as  revealed  in  the  late  Papal  Encyclical  against 
"Modernism" — one  of  the  most  remarkable  documents  that 
has  ever  been  issued  by  the  Holy  See?  It  is  a  condemnation  of 
"emotionalism,"  or  "intuitionalism,"  as  the  sole  motive  of  faith. 
The  Church  takes  its  stand  upon  reason  as  the  solid  foundation 
on  which  Faith  rests.  Hence  its  approval  of  the  Thomistic 
philosophy,  which  rests  entirely  on  the  syllogism,  a  view  accepted 
also  by  John  Stuart  Mill.  But,  as  you  say,  intellect  has  its  limi- 
tations, which  we  are  all  painfully  conscious  of;    and,  therefore. 


Chap.  X]      RELIGIO-POLITICAL   DISCUSSIONS  215 

if  we  are  to  reach  Truth,  there  must  be  some  other  avenue.  This 
we  call  Faith.  For  after  all,  if  Intellect  is  the  supreme  and  final 
Judge  of  Truth,  the  question  at  once  arises,  whose  Intellect?  or 
what  condition  of  Intellect.?  Is  it  the  Intellect  of  one  solitary 
thinker,  like  Aristotle,  or  the  common  intellect  of  the  "man  in 
the  street".?  or  is  it  the  intellect  of  an  Aristotle  or  a  Bacon  in  his 
youth,  or  in  his  manhood,  or  in  his  old  age.? 

I  have  just  been  reading  "The  Autobiography  of  Herbert 
Spencer."  He  appears  to  have  modified,  at  the  age  of  60  or  70, 
half  his  dogmatic  teachings  as  a  young  man.  Age,  experience, 
illness,  imperfect  circulation  of  the  blood  in  the  arteries  of  the 
brain,  impure  blood  from  hepatic  troubles  —  all  these  were  ele- 
ments that  modified  half  his  conceptions  during  life.  What  then.? 
Well,  it  follows  that  if  we  accept  "intellect"  alone  as  the  norm  and 
standard  of  truth,  we  drift  at  once  into  the  belief  that  all  knowledge 
is  relative,  and  there  is  no  absolute  truth.  This  won't  do!  And 
it  is  here  the  intense  logical  consistency  of  Catholic  teaching 
comes  in.  The  Absolute  Mind  alone  can  discern  absolute  Truth. 
The  moment  you  speak  of  limitations,  or  say  "we  cannot  know," 
you  admit  that.  Therefore,  what  we  can  know  about  the  Uni- 
verse, is  just  what  reason  verifies  and  what  Absolute  Truth  has 
CHOSEN  to  reveal. 

Why  do  I  underline  that  word.?  Because,  such  is  the  pride  of 
human  intellect,  that  what  we  are  really  in  revolt  against  is  — 
the  Reticence  of  God.  We  forget  our  place  in  the  Universe,  be- 
cause we  have  never  got  rid  of  that  Geocentric  Theory  which  makes 
the  little  microbe,  man,  the  apex  of  the  Universe.  We  have  to  be 
humble,  if  we  are  to  aspire;  and  we  have  to  accept  with  thank- 
fulness the  little,  and  yet  the  great  deal,  that  the  Absolute  Mind 
has  chosen  to  reveal.  We,  Catholics,  believe  that  that  revela- 
tion has  been  made  to  the  Church;  and  it  is  the  only  Church  in 
Christendom  which  asserts  that  and  speaks  with  authority. 
You  think  that  therefore  the  Church  is  bound  to  coerce  and  perse- 
cute. Certainly  not.  First,  because  to  coerce  conscience  by 
punishment  is  totally  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  Church  on  the 
sole  ground  that  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  Catholic  theology 
that  "the  end  can  never  justify  the  means."  You  will  lift  your 
eyebrows  at  this;  and  say:  What  about  the  "Provincial  Letters," 
"Jesuitism,"  and  all  that.?  But,  I  am  only  stating  the  literal 
truth,  no  matter  how  Catholic  doctrine  has  been  twisted  and  abused 
by  men.     There  is  no  more  fundamental  principle  in  all  Catholic 


2i6       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

ethical  teaching,  so  much  so  that  one  of  the  most  famihar 
questions  in  our  daily  catechising  of  children,  and  in  our  Sunday 
preaching  is: 

"If  by  one  lie  you  could  liberate  your  father  from  prison,  or 
release  all  the  souls  that  suffer  in  Purgatory,  would  you  be  justi- 
fied in  uttering  it?" 

And  the  answer  is:  "  No!  No  object,  however  holy,  can  justify 
a  thing  that  is  evil  in  itself." 

I  know  you  will  not  urge  mediaeval  persecutions  which  we 
all  condemn  and  deplore.  The  ages  were  barbarous;  and  then 
heresy  was  a  political  crime,  a  kind  of  treason  —  felony  when 
the  Church  was  identified  with  the  State;  and  when  heresy  was 
productive  of  many  social  evils.  —  No  one  finds  fault  with  the 
Versaillais  troops  for  shooting  down  the  Communists  who  set 
Paris  on  fire. 

Besides,  the  spirit  of  our  age  will  not  tolerate  persecution, 
altho'  the  Kulturkampf  of  Bismarck  is  rather  recent.  Advanced 
education  will  kill  all  that. 

I  send  a  little  volume  on  the  attitude  of  the  Church  towards 
animals.  You  will  see  how  hopelessly  wrong  Pierre  Loti  is! 
Have  you  seen  Huysman's  "En  Route".?  The  story  of  the 
swineherd  Simeon  is  unique  — a  mixture  of  ecstatic  rapture  and 
daily  and  hourly  contact  with  animals  that  makes  me  sick.  But 
it  is  "Cathohcity"  undoubtedly,  in  one  aspect,  though  it  is  an 
aspect  that  does  not  appeal  to  me. 

I  am  in  thorough  sympathy  with  you  in  your  conviction  of  the 
sacredness  of  human  liberty.  It  seems  to  me  a  kind  of  sacrilege 
to  trespass  on  that  Holy  of  Holies  —  the  human  conscience. 
Hence  I  have  been  for  the  last  few  months  here  in  Ireland  in  a  state 
of  silent  fury  against  the  insolent  domination  of  the  Irish  Par- 
liamentary Party  and  their  attempt  to  stamp  out  all  political 
freedom.  At  last,  I  was  forced  to  speak,  and  I  send  you  two 
articles  on  our  political  situation,  and  in  favor  of  a  new  movement 
to  establish  political  liberty  and  break  down  the  barriers  between 
Protestants  and  Catholics  in  this  country.  But,  whilst  I  would 
resent  any  attempt  to  interfere  with  my  principles  or  convictions 
in  political  or  social  matters,  or  to  restrict  my  freedom  in  any  way, 
whenever  the  Eternal  speaks  (and  every  day  I  am  becoming  more 
overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  His  Omnipresence)  either  through  di- 
rect inspiration  or  through  the  Vicariate  He  has  established  on 
this  little  planet  of  ours,  I  am  a  little  child;    or  as  Pasteur  said: 


Chap.  X]       RELIGIO-POLITICAL  DISCUSSIONS        217 

"I  have  the  faith  of  a  Breton  peasant;  and,  if  I  Hve  much  longer 
I  shall  have  the  faith  of  a  Breton  peasant's  wife." 

You  will  smile  at  all  this.     No  matter  .  .  . 

The  infirmities  of  age  are  creeping  down  on  myself  and  I  am 
becoming  more  home-tied  every  day,  working  on  and  trying  to 
get  in  as  much  useful  travail  as  I  can  before  the  night  falls.  It 
would  (be)  the  rarest  of  all  pleasures  to  see  you;  but  you  are  right 
to  economise  your  strength,  and  yield  to  the  physical  inertia  which 
your  mental  expenditure  induces.  .  .  . 

Very  sincerely,  my  dear  Dr.  Holmes, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

From  abroad  he  received  many  tempting  invitations  to 
contribute  to  the  popular  journals  and  magazines  on  topics 
of  interest  to  observers  of  the  religio-poHtical  conditions 
in  Ireland.  McClure's  and  others,  in  America,  had  sought 
by  generous  offers  to  induce  him  to  write  for  their  pages. 
These  offers  he  uniformly  refused.  His  reluctance  to  seize 
such  opportunities  for  appealing  to  a  well-disposed  public 
did  not  arise  from  any  disinclination  to  write.  But  he  felt 
that  it  was  necessary  to  conserve  his  strength  for  the  work 
he  had  in  hand.  For  a  like  reason  he  declined  to  write 
for  Catholic  journals  outside  the  circle  to  which  he  was 
already  pledged.     On  April  27,  1909,  he  writes: 

The  Sacred  Heart  Review  has  asked  a  weekly  letter  from  Ireland 
from  me.  I  could  send  it  some  interesting  papers  from  time  to 
time;  but  I  fear  that  anything  new  appearing  in  a  Boston  journal 
would  possibly  hurt  the  popularity  of  Dr.  Gray.  So  I  have  put 
the  question  by  for  the  present. 


XI 

POLITICAL    CONVICTIONS 

FROM  what  has  been  said  so  far  of  Canon  Sheehan's 
pohtical  opinions  the  reader  will  conclude  that  he 
was  as  keenly  sensitive  to  the  injuries  done  to  his 
people  by  an  unsympathetic  government  as  he  was  cogni- 
zant of  the  justice  that  called  for  their  correction  and 
atonement.  But  he  had  also  learnt  that  nothing  could 
be  gained,  whilst  much  might  be  lost,  by  violent  opposition. 
He  had  seen  and  sympathized  with  those  generous  patriots 
who  had  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  untutored  effort  to 
avenge  the  wrongs  done  to  a  noble  but  materially  weakened 
people.  Prudence,  every  law  of  order  and  humanity, 
priestly  charity,  and  the  mission  of  peace  imposed  on  him 
by  the  Good  Shepherd  whose  flock  he  was  feeding  and 
guarding,  dictated  a  poHcy  of  conciliation  equally  honorable 
and  much  more  profitable  than  righteous  but  futile  resist- 
ance. 

In  order  to  set  forth  with  eflFect  the  basic  principles  of 
this  pohcy  of  conciHation  it  was  necessairy  to  have  free 
access  to,  if  not  control  of,  an  organ  that  could  and  would 
allow  him  to  speak  fearlessly,  if  honestly,  to  the  general 
pubhc.  Such  an  organ  was  opened  to  the  Canon  in  the 
Cork  Free  Press.  On  the  day  of  his  death  that  journal 
recalled  the  fact  that  the  people  of  Ireland  were  largely 
indebted  to  this  humble  priest  for  having  inaugurated  the 
peaceful  settlement  that  had  brought  the  "Wyndham 
Act"  to  a  successful  issue.  A  leading  editorial  in  the 
paper's  very  first  issue  had  sounded  a  stirring  trumpet  call, 
in  an  appeal  to  the  men  of  the  south  of  Ireland  to  rally 
round  the  standard  of  conciHation.  That  article  was 
written  by  Canon  Sheehan.  It  contains  a  complete  pro- 
fession of  political  faith,  and  throws  a  good  light  on  his 
patriotism.     But  it  voices  above  all  his  convictions  on  the 

218 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL  CONVICTIONS  219 

duties  of  a  press  free  from  intimidation  and  from  bribery. 
It  is  a  splendid  composition,  apart  from  its  frank  argument; 
and  as  it  does  not  appear  among  his  collected  essays,  I  need 
hardly  apologize  for  giving  here  its  main  outline. 

After  directing  the  attention  of  his  readers  to  the  Life 
of  Charles  Stewart  Parnell,  by  Barry  O'Brien,  in  which  are 
detailed  the  circumstances  of  the  crises  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  suppression  of  Isaac  Butt  and  his  party,  he 
points  out  the  similarity  of  that  and  the  present  situation. 
Then  he  proceeds: 

"We  stand  very  much  in  like,  but  somewhat  worse, 
position  to-day.  Thirty  years  is  a  long  term  in  the  history 
of  mankind.  During  these  thirty  years,  other  nations  have 
sprung,  by  leaps  and  bounds,  along  the  path  of  progress. 
In  America  the  population  has  doubled  itself;  and  all 
along  the  prairies  to  the  farthest  verge  of  the  Pacific  new 
cities  have  been  founded,  new  States  erected,  until  the  limits 
of  the  mighty  Republic  have  become  conterminous  with 
Nature's  boundaries.  England  has  grown  in  wealth  and 
population  and  Imperial  power.  Her  colonies  have  ex- 
panded into  Republics,  utilizing  their  own  resources  and 
finances  for  ever-new  measures  of  public  utility.  Germany 
has  grown  into  a  Colossus;  and  a  semi-barbarous  nation 
has  leaped  to  the  front,  not  only  as  a  military  power,  but 
even  as  a  civilizing  influence  over  half  the  East.  We  are 
comparing  small  things  with  great  —  a  little  island  in  the 
North  Atlantic  with  mighty  empires.  But  is  it  so  small? 
Is  not  that  Httle  island  the  cradle  of  the  world-wide  race? 
But  alas!  Whilst  her  children  are  building  up  the  fabrics 
of  kingdoms  and  republics  over  half  the  world,  she  remains 
in  a  condition  of  torpor  and  stagnation,  her  life-blood 
welling  out  in  the  open  sore  of  emigration,  her  towns  decay- 
ing, her  population  diminishing  at  the  rate  of  a  million 
a  decade,  her  vast  resources  undeveloped,  her  faculties 
paralyzed,  and  her  outlook  as  gloomy  and  melancholy  as 
at  any  most  disastrous  period  in  her  chequered  history. 
We  are  such  mendicants  and  paupers  that  we  are  effusively 
grateful  for  small  mercies;   but  whatever  we  have  gained 


220       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

during  those  thirty  years  would  now  seem  about  to  be  filched 
from  us  in  the  shape  of  extra  taxation  imposed  on  us  by  the 
votes  of  Irish  representatives.  There  have  been  energy 
and  suffering  enough  wasted  in  Ireland  during  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  to  have  built  up  the  Roman  Empire; 
and  the  question  now  is  whether,  after  all  this,  we  are  to 
be  content  with  finding  nothing  but  a  heap  of  Dead  Sea 
Ashes  in  our  hands.     Let  us  consider  a  little. 

"The  sum  total  of  our  political  profits  in  thirty  years  is 
—  if  we  except  the  few  crumbs  of  Land  Bills  that  were 
flung  by  Dives  to  the  Lazarus  at  his  gates,  and  one  abortive 
Home  Rule  Bill  —  a  Labourers'  Act,  paid  mostly  from 
Irish  rates,  a  National  University,  which  appears  to  be  hectic 
from  its  birth,  and  one  solid  Act,  which  has  turned  200,000 
tenant-farmers  of  Ireland  into  peasant  proprietors.  What 
have  these  cost;  and  where  have  they  been  fought  for? 
They  have  cost  thirty  years  of  tumult  and  agitation;  an 
expenditure  of  probably  a  million  of  money  in  subsidies 
from  Ireland  and  America,  untold  suffering  by  eviction, 
imprisonment,  exile,  and  death.  But,  where  and  by  whom 
have  even  these  measures  been  fought  for,  and  wrested  from 
an  unwilling  and  hostile  government.''  On  the  Irish  hill- 
side, in  the  prison,  in  the  workhouse;  but  not  by  any 
means  by  the  torrential  eloquence  that  poured  in  a  flood 
across  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Commons;  nor  in  the  tourna- 
ments of  painted  laths,  which  we  know  were  so  amusing  to 
the  English  House  of  Commons  as  to  afford  materials  for 
cartoons  for  the  English  comic  journals  to  this  day.  Parnell 
foresaw  all  this,  and  declared  more  than  once  that  Irish 
liberties  and  Irish  rights  were  to  be  fought  for  and  won, 
not  in  Westminster,  but  in  Ireland.  Even  the  mighty 
engine  he  commanded  —  the  solid  phalanx  of  80  Irish 
votes,  that  were  to  be  flung  into  the  scales  when  the  two 
English  parties  equalised,  with  a  'Vae  Victis'  to  the  party 
that  would  not  concede  the  last  fraction  of  Irish  claims  — 
has  been  a  melancholy  failure.  Only  once  was  that  om- 
nipotent weapon  put  into  requisition.  Whatever  has  been 
won,  has  been  won  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Irish  people  at 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL  CONVICTIONS  221 

home;  by  their  terrible  and  stern  determination  to  end, 
once  and  for  all,  the  appalling  condition  of  things  that 
obtained;  and  the  largest  and  most  bountiful  measure  of 
all  was  won  by  the  exchange  of  a  few  words  over  a  green 
baize  table  in  Dublin  between  Irishmen  who  had  at  last 
begun  to  perceive  that  Ireland's  problems  could  only  be 
solved  by  herself,  and  that  Ireland's  salvation  could  only 
be  worked  out  by  Irish  hands. 

"From  a  purely  utiHtarian  standpoint,  therefore,  it  is 
clear  that  our  work  is  only  commencing;  that  much  remains 
to  be  done  that  has  not  been  done;  that  a  great  deal  that 
has  been  ill  done  remains  to  be  well  done;  and  that,  above 
all,  the  grand  objective  of  Irish  National  aspirations,  Home 
Rule,  which,  under  the  stress  of  Parliamentary  eloquence, 
has  become  a  mere  phantom,  dragging  the  Irish  race  through 
quagmire  after  quagmire  of  political  trouble,  and  which  now 
has  almost  thinned  away  to  vanishing  point,  must  be  brought 
back  and  reduced,  under  the  concentrated  action  of  the 
people,  to  a  concrete  and  tangible  reahty.  A  heavy  task 
for  the  generation  that  is  just  now  passing  through. 

"But  this  is  not  all.  The  rising  generation  of  Irishmen 
has  only  been  saved  from  the  dreary  fate  of  absolute  scepti- 
cism by  that  marvellous  instinct  of  emotional  patriotism 
that  has  protected  our  race  for  600  years.  Everything 
they  see  around  them  when  they  emerge  from  the  schools, 
which,  under  our  unhappy  systems  of  education,  tend  to 
stifle  and  destroy  every  germ  of  patriotism  in  the  youthful 
mind,  would  seem  to  teach  that  patriotism  is  now  reduced 
to  a  practical  system,  in  which  self-interest  has  displaced 
that  higher  ideal  of  sacrificing  everything  for  the  common 
weal;  and  the  still  higher  ideal  of  laboring  and  suffering 
for  the  motherland.  The  great  Irishmen  of  the  past,  in 
whom,  as  they  stood  in  the  dock,  Isaac  Butt,  a  Protestant, 
and  in  one  sense  an  alien,  discerned  the  most  perfect  dis- 
interestedness, the  keenest  sense  of  honour,  the  spirit  of 
self-immolation,  and  the  most  absolute  love  of  truth;  those 
patriots  of  the  past,  whose  motives  were  sublime,  even  if 
their    methods    were    impracticable,    are    now    scorned    as 


222       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

*hill-siders'  and  'tinplkers';  and  that  generous  policy 
that  haunted  the  imagination  of  Wolfe  Tone  a  hundred 
years  ago;  that  was  accepted  80  years  ago  by  O'Connell 
as  an  indispensable  factor  in  his  efforts  to  repeal  the  Union; 
which,  sixty  years  ago,  Thomas  Davis  preached  with  his 
own  marvellous  eloquence  and  sincerity;  and  which,  thirty 
years  ago,  Parnell  accepted  in  his  famous  truism,  'Ireland 
needs  the  services  of  every  one  of  her  children,'  is  now  derided 
as  a  fancy  only  fit  for  the  distorted  imaginations  of  Bed- 
lamites. Every  principle  of  Nationality  is  now  subverted; 
all  the  teachings  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  of  its  golden 
periods — '98,  '48,  and  '67  —  are  voluntarily  discarded; 
political  expediency  has  taken  the  place  of  political  morality; 
and  men  shrug  their  shoulders  to-day  at  events  and  words 
and  works  and  toils,  that  at  one  time  evoked  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  entire  nation.  No  wonder  that  the  young  men  of 
our  generation  look  on  in  blank  amazement;  no  wonder 
they  ask  for  some  guidance  —  some  voice  that  will  tell  them 
whither  we  are  tending;  some  new  and  powerful  influence 
that  will  keep  the  flame  of  patriotism  from  dying  down  into 
dead  ashes  in  their  hearts.  It  is  well  known  to  the  writer 
of  these  lines  that  such  is  the  case.  Dazed  and  bewildered 
in  the  tempestuous  politics  of  to-day,  looking  in  vain  to 
blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  they  have  to  turn  away  in  a  kind 
of  despair,  and  ask  themselves,  'Where  is  the  truth,  if 
truth  exists  at  all?'  And  who  is  going  to  sift  the  true  from 
the  evident  falsehoods  that  are  current  everywhere?  The 
echoes  of  great  words  and  greater  deeds  are  in  their  ears; 
the  vision  of  triumphant  Nationality  is  before  their  eyes. 
But  din  and  confusion  of  contemporary  politics  dull  the  one 
and  blind  the  other,  and  leave  them  helpless  and  bewildered 
and  sceptical.  There  never  was  a  generation  of  Irishmen 
so  sorely  tried.  It  is  the  worst  and  darkest  period  of  the 
nation's  occultation. 

PRINCIPLES     OF    A    FREE     NATIONALITY 

"Clearly  then  we  must  hark  backward,  and  learn  once 
again    the    principles    of    a    Free    Nationality  —  the    first 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL  CONVICTIONS  223 

axioms  and  original  data  on  which  the  politics  of  a  nation 
should  be  built.  We  have  to  get  rid  of  that  stupendous 
frivolity  that  leaves  a  people  without  faith  and  without 
aims;  and  that  scepticism  that  impoverishes  the  soul 
and  makes  it  barren;  and  that  superficiality  that  has  filled 
the  land  with  critics  instead  of  thinkers;  punsters  instead 
of  poets;  scoffers  instead  of  strong,  serious,  and  determined 
seekers  after  what  is  best  for  individual  growth  and  national 
progress.  And  this  can  now  be  done  only  through  the  Press. 
The  world  is  growing  tired  of  oratory.  Speech  falls  to-day 
like  the  seed  upon  the  stony  ground.  It  is  the  sheet,  the 
feuilleton,  that  flutters  above  the  toast  and  eggs  of  the 
aristocrat  or  the  mechanic,  or  that  penetrates  the  mountain 
cabin  or  the  village  forge,  and  is  read  on  Sunday  by  the 
light  of  the  peat  fire,  that  sways  the  hearts  and  moves  the 
convictions  of  the  people.  But,  if  the  power  of  the  Press  is 
great,  so,  too,  is  its  responsibility;  and  it  is  nothing  short 
of  a  crime  against  the  nation  and  humanity  for  any  great 
writer  to  lead  the  people  astray,  or  seek  to  debauch  their 
minds  and  obstruct  their  advancement  by  misdirection 
under  the  baleful  influence  of  party  spirit.  And,  unfor- 
tunately for  us  Irishmen,  there  is  a  traditional  difficulty 
in  viewing  great  political  issues  dispassionately;  and  in 
acknowledging  that  there  is  hardly  a  greater  vice  than 
consistency,  when  it  means  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  a 
party,  whilst  flouting  the  dictates  of  conscience,  and  the 
principles  of  pohtical  morality.  For  it  should  ever  be 
remembered  that  morahty  cannot  be  separated  from  poli- 
tics, nor  from  anything  else;  and  the  man  who  believes 
that  everything  may  be  sacrificed  to  pohtical  expediency 
is  as  immoral  as  the  man  who  cheats  the  pubhc  on  the 
grounds  of  commercial  necessity. 

THE     NEW    IRISH    JOURNAL 

"One  naturally  seeks  a  motto,  or  rather  a  guide  word, 
marking  the  aims  and  methods  of  a  new  journal  Hke  this. 
It  is  not  far  to  seek.  There  are  not  many  incidents  in  our 
history   so   dramatic   as   that  which   took   place  in   Green 


224       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

Street  Courthouse  on  that  day  when  the  Crown  Prosecutor 
arraigned  the  proprietors  of  the  Nation  on  a  charge 
of  treason-felony  and  seditious  pubhcation,  and  read  out 
an  article  and  a  poem  as  treasonable,  adding,  *The  writer 
of  these  lines  was  afraid  to  give  his  name.'  At  that  moment, 
a  lady,  dressed  and  veiled  in  black,  stood  up  in  the  gallery 
overhead,  and,  hfting  her  veil,  said  simply,  *It  was  I  who 
wrote  the  lines  over  the  name  of  ''Speranza"!'  That  lady 
was  the  wife  of  Sir  William  Wilde,  leading  ocuHst  in  Dublin, 
and  chief  of  Irish  antiquarians;  the  poem  was  *The  Year 
of  Revolutions';  the  lines  in  that  poem  which  we  suggest 
for  selection  are :  — 

God,  Liberty,  Truth!     How  they  burn  heart  and  brain! 
Those  words,  shall  they  burn,  shall  they  waken  in  vain? 

"These  words  may  be  taken  to  symbolize  and  even  limit 
the  aspirations  of  a  new  Irish  journal.  Religion  —  to  be 
protected  and  defended  within  these  four  seas  of  Ireland 
from  all  outer  contamination;  and  especially  from  that 
Socialistic  wave  that  just  now  is  sweeping  over  Europe, 
and  threatening  to  submerge  England;  Liberty  —  of  speech 
and  thought  and  action,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  Church 
and  State;  Truth  —  to  be  upheld  at  any  cost,  in  its  integ- 
rity; to  be  spread  abroad,  at  any  cost,  in  all  its  naked 
majesty!  That  is  a  fair  programme.  Let  us  dwell  on  one 
or  two  points. 

THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    LIBERTY 

"If  there  be  one  thing  more  than  another  which  has 
escaped  the  solvent  and  destructive  influences  of  this 
cynical  age,  it  is  the  principle  that  individual  liberty  is  the 
highest  natural  prerogative  that  God  has  given  to  man  — 
a  privilege  that  ought  to  be  defended  even  at  the  cost  of 
life.  It  was  for  this  that  martyrs  shed  their  blood;  it  was 
for  this  that  confessors  went  to  prison,  chanting  the  eternal 
theme,  that  hberty  is  indestructible  so  long  as  the  spirit 
survives.  Stone  walls  cannot  stifle  it,  nor  chains  control 
it,  nor  iron  bars  Hmit  its  greatness,  even  if  they  obstruct 
its  operations.     Now,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  our 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL   CONVICTIONS  225 

fellow-countrymen  have  voluntarily  abdicated  and  dethroned 
that  individual  freedom  for  thirty  years  or  more.  Under 
a  subtle  plea  they  have  been  induced  to  place  their  social 
and  political  freedom  in  pledge  to  an  individual,  a  clique, 
or  a  party.  In  the  beginning  in  order  to  cement  the  forces 
that  were  fighting  behind  Mr.  Parnell,  such  abandonment 
of  human  liberty  might  have  been  defensible,  although  even 
then  many  minds  revolted  at  the  idea  of  an  autocracy, 
irresponsible  and  more  or  less  despotic.  In  many  hearts 
the  old  Roman  spirit  survived;  and  many  brave  men  growled 
between  their  teeth  even  then: 

O,  you  and  I  have  heard  our  fathers  say, 
There  was  a  Brutus  once  that  would  have  brooked 
The  eternal  devil  to  keep  state  in  Rome, 
As  easily  as  a  King. 

"But  the  multitude  shouted,  unconscious  of  their  self- 
degradation,  and  laid  down  their  liberties,  never  caring 
to  think  when  that  priceless  privilege  could  be  picked  up 
again.  Since  that  time,  under  one  pretext  or  another,  this 
whole  nation  of  ours  has  been  compelled  to  pass  under  the 
Caudine  Forks.  It  has  disfranchised  itself,  with  the  inevi- 
table consequence  that  from  the  very  lack  of  exercise  of  its 
political  rights,  it  has  sunk  into  a  condition  of  mental 
atrophy,  where  it  is  unable  not  only  to  discriminate  between 
the  claims  of  individuals  and  parties  to  its  confidence, 
but  even  to  detect  what  subtle  and  dangerous  consequences 
may  lie  hidden  under  fair-seeming  words.  We  are  told  that 
discipline  is  necessary  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  nation 
towards  finality.  So  it  is.  But  not  the  discipline  of 
absolute  disfranchisement;  not  the  discipline  of  the  muzzled 
mouth  and  the  chained  hand. 

TRUE     UNITY    NOT    SLAVISH ! 

"There  is  much  talk  about  unity.  Unity  by  all  means. 
But  not  the  unity  of  the  chained  gangs  of  galley  slaves, 
clubbed  or  whipped  to  their  bunks  at  night,  but  the  unity 
that  springs  from  spontaneous  action  of  a  free  people, 
recognizing  their  own  sovereignty,  and  demanding  cohesion 


226       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

under  principle,  but  not  under  coercion.  And  this  is  now 
the  question  of  the  hour.  All  other  questions  —  Budgets, 
Land  Purchase,  Education,  even  Home  Rule  —  sink  into 
insignificance  before  this.  Are  we  free  men,  or  are  we 
slaves  in  our  own  land?  Has  every  Irishman  who  has 
come  to  mature  age  the  right  of  forming  his  opinion  about 
pohtical  questions,  or  has  he  not?  We  are  told  in  the 
plainest  language  by  the  new  masters,  'That  faction  (that 
is.  Liberty)  must  be  crushed  out  with  a  strong  and  merciless 
hand;  that  it  must  be  trampled  until  not  an  iota  of  freedom 
is  left  us.'  What  is  the  tyranny  of  England  compared 
with  this?  Are  we  Irishmen  no  better  than  the  negroes  of 
South  CaroHna,  or  the  umbrella-bearers  of  King  Bomba? 
There  was  a  time,  and  not  so  long  ago,  in  Ireland,  when  this 
would  not  be  brooked  an  instant.  What  would  the  men 
of  %']  have  said  to  such  insolence?  They  would  have  met 
the  challenge  with  a  clap  of  thunder  that  would  have  echoed 
from  end  to  end  of  the  land.  For  they  knew  well  that  a 
nation  that  would  tolerate  such  an  insult  is  past  redemption. 
It  would  be  madness  to  entrust  it  with  self-government, 
for  it  is  only  races  of  the  lowest  mentality  that  engender 
slaves  or  tolerate  tyrants.  The  people  of  Ireland,  and  the 
democracy  of  Ireland,  are  not  so  tame  as  to  sit  dumb  under 
such  a  taunt  as  this.  They  know  that  when  the  hound 
crouches  the  whip  descends. 

THE     DEMOCRACY    OF    IRELAND 

"But  who  are  the  people,  and  who  are  embraced  under 
that  word  that  now  bears  such  momentous  significance  — • 
the  democracy  of  Ireland?  Certainly,  it  does  not  mean 
a  section  of  the  people.  The  very  word  excludes  such  a 
meaning.  Certainly  it  does  not  mean  the  predominance 
of  any  one  class  or  form  of  religious  belief.  No  section  of 
population  has  a  right  to  say  any  more  than  the  French 
King,  'The  State?  It  is  I!'  For,  whilst  it  is  morally 
impossible  that  there  should  not  be  political  parties  and 
divided  interests  in  every  commonwealth,  there  should  be 
no  barriers  against  such  a  combination  of  forces  for  the  com- 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL  CONVICTIONS  227 

mon  welfare  as  our  wisest  and  greatest  thinkers  have  hoped 
for,  and  which  has  been  too  long  deferred.  Patriotism  is 
not  the  maintenance  of  the  pride  and  privileges  of  one 
class;  it  is  the  desire  for  the  common  weal,  and  the  readiness 
to  sacrifice  personal  comforts  or  prerogatives  where  the 
welfare  of  the  community  is  concerned.  And  if,  as  Mr. 
Parnell  so  frequently  reminded  the  Irish  people,  the  battles 
for  Irish  freedom  must  be  fought  on  Irish  soil,  and  the 
outposts  at  Westminster  are  practically  powerless  unless 
they  are  sustained  from  the  centre,  it  is  clear  there  must 
be  a  combination  of  all  classes  and  creeds,  first  to  agree  upon, 
then  to  formulate,  claims  that  no  English  statesman  would 
dare  to  flout  when  they  come  from  a  united  people.  'I 
am  not  one  of  those,'  said  Mr.  Parnell,  in  a  certain  remark- 
able utterance,  'who  believe  in  the  permanence  of  an  Irish 
party  in  the  English  Parliament.  I  feel  convinced  that, 
sooner  or  later,  the  influence  which  every  English  Govern- 
ment has  at  its  command  —  the  powerful  and  demoralizing 
influence  —  sooner  or  later  will  sap  the  best  party  you 
can  return  to  the  House  of  Commons.  I  don't  think  we 
ought  to  rely  too  much  on  the  permanent  independence  of 
an  Irish  party  sitting  at  a  distance  from  their  constituencies 
of  Ireland,  while  we  are  making  a  short,  sharp,  and,  I  trust, 
decisive  struggle  for  the  restoration  of  our  legislative  inde- 
pendence.' 

A    CAUTION 

"We  have  moved  forward  a  pace  since  then,  so  far  as 
power  is  concerned,  but  not,  alas!  in  prudence  and  in  the 
supreme  talent  of  seizing  opportunities.  We  are  wastrels 
and  spendthrifts;  and  like  all  wastrels  and  spendthrifts, 
we  take  infinite  pains  to  secure  what  we  then  fling  away  as 
worthless.  We  were  offered  the  Gladstone  University 
Act,  and  we  rejected  it.  We  obtained  the  Ashbourne  Act, 
and  just  as  it  was  about  to  emancipate  the  Irish  peasant 
forever,  we  flung  it  aside  for  the  phantom  of  land  nationali- 
sation. We  took  the  Wyndham  Act,  tried  it,  and  just  as 
we  found  it  a  measure  of  supreme  utility  to  our  people,  we 


228        CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

killed  it.  We  were  offered  Lord  MacDonnell's  Act  — 
Home  Rule,  without  the  gilt  letters,  and  we  contumeliously 
rejected  it;  or  rather,  it  was  rejected  for  us  by  our  Directo- 
rate. And  to  cap  the  climax,  Mr.  Wyndham,  Chief  Secretary, 
seeing  the  phenomenal  issue  of  the  Land  Conferences  of 
1902,  made  the  generous  offer,  with  just  a  spice  of  irony, 
which  made  the  offer  more  sincere,  'We  don't  understand 
you,  Irishmen.  You  are  the  Green  Sphinx,  Your  riddle 
is  unsolvable  by  us,  or  by  the  Universe.  But  perhaps  you 
can  solve  it  yourselves.  Sit  ye  down,  you.  Nationalists, 
and  you,  Unionists.  And  whatever  measure  you  can 
agree  upon  between  yourselves  —  be  it  Land  Measures, 
Local  Government  Measures,  Education,  or  even  Home 
Rule,  I,  George  Wyndham,  promise,  with  the  aid  of  my 
Conservative  Government,  and  with  the  House  of  Lords 
at  my  back,  to  pass  it  into  an  Act  of  Parliament.'  Was  the 
offer  accepted?  Of  course  not.  We  wanted  a  little  more 
fighting,  a  little  more  speech-making,  a  little  more  hunting 
after  will-o-the-wisps,  a  little  more  blind  trusting  in  the 
promise,  'To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow!' 
A  little  more  blundering  and  plundering.  'Short,  sharp, 
and  decisive!'  said  Mr.  Parnell  twenty-five  years  ago. 
Alas!  And  we  are  further  than  ever  from  national  inde- 
pendence to-day.  Verily,  there  is  much  truth  in  the  old 
Roman  saying: 

Non  anser  vult  velH; 
Sed  populus  vult  decipi; 
Et  —  declpiatur! 

A  goose  does  not  like  to  be  plucked. 
But  the  people  like  to  be  deceived. 
And  let  them  be  deceived! 

TRUTH    IN    JOURNALISM 

"Lastly,  we  have  said  that  truth  may  be,  must  be,  incorpo- 
rated in  that  guide-word  that  shall  determine  the  working 
of  this  paper.  Let  us  commence  at  once,  here  on  the  first 
page,  no  matter  how  unpalatable  the  truth  may  be.  This 
Irish  nature  of  ours  is  a  constant  subject  for  amazement. 
It  is  the  Sphinx-riddle  of  the  world.     It  is  a  puzzle  even 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL  CONVICTIONS  229 

to  ourselves.  We  are  a  high-spirited  people;  and  yet  we 
have  placed  our  necks  under  the  yoke  of  a  dictator,  or  a 
secret  camarilla  in  Dublin  for  over  twenty  years.  We  are 
an  honourable  people,  who  can  brook  dishonour.  We  are  a 
clever  people;  but  we  have  given  to  the  world  at  large  and 
to  empire-building  elsewhere,  the  genius  that  should  be 
utilized  at  home.  We  are  a  generous  people;  and  yet  we  are 
told  we  must  keep  up  sectarian  bitterness  to  the  end; 
and  that  Protestant  ascendancy  has  been  broken  down, 
only  to  build  Catholic  ascendancy  on  its  ruins.  Are  we  in 
earnest  about  our  country  at  all  or  are  we  seeking  to  per- 
petuate our  wretchedness  and  backwardness  by  refusing 
the  honest  aid  of  Irishmen?  Why  should  we  throw  into 
the  arms  of  England  those  children  of  Ireland  who  would 
be  our  most  faithful  allies,  if  we  did  not  seek  to  disinherit 
them?  A  weaker  brother  disinherited  by  a  stronger  will 
naturally  be  his  enemy,  not  his  ally.  Do  we  suppose  for 
a  moment  that  any  English  electorate,  Whig  or  Tory, 
Radical,  Socialist,  or  Conservative,  will  grant  autonomy 
to  Ireland,  until  it  is  assured  that  the  rights  of  the  minority 
shall  be  safeguarded  and  respected?  Do  we  think  that 
protestations  of  toleration  on  our  part  will  be  accepted,  if 
the  minority  keep  aloof,  and  maintain  a  suspicious  silence? 
Do  we  hope  that  that  minority  will  ever  again  speak,  until 
it  is  generously  invited  into  the  nation's  councils  ?  And  see 
what  we  are  losing.  It  is  from  the  Protestant  minority 
that  every  great  Irish  leader  for  150  years,  except  O'Connell, 
has  sprung.  It  is  that  minority  which  has  given  us  our 
greatest  orators,  our  greatest  statesmen,  our  leading  mer- 
chants, our  greatest  archaeologists,  our  first  linguists,  many 
of  our  greatest  poets.  It  is  the  same  minority  that  has  given 
the  Empire  its  greatest  statesmen,  its  most  illustrious 
warriors,  its  leading  colonists. 

INFLUENCE     OF    IRISH    GENIUS    TO-DAY 

"Think  what  Ireland  would  be  to-day,  if  all  that  intel- 
lectual energy  had  been  confined  and  exercised  within  the 
limits  of  Ireland.     Think  what  Ireland  would  be  to-day,  if 


230       CANON   SHEEHAN   OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

that  stream  of  genius  that  has  come  forth  from  her  schools 
and  universities  for  the  last  hundred  years  had  been  diverted 
towards  the  needs  and  wants  of  Ireland,  instead  of  being 
utilised  by  other  and  even  hostile  nations.  But  is  the 
stream  dried  up,  and  the  fountain  sealed?  No.  Not  by 
any  means.  There  never  was  such  intellectual  power  in 
Ireland  as  there  is  at  this  moment.  It  is  everywhere. 
For  Ireland's  sake  let  us  give  it  a  fair  chance!  It  is  not 
true  that  our  Protestant  brethren  are  hopelessly  alienated 
from  Ireland.  It  is  not  true  that  they  are  any  longer  an 
English  garrison.  No  power  on  earth  can  persuade  us  that 
a  class  which  has  given  us  such  prodigies  of  genius  as  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  did  —  genius,  too,  always 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  Ireland,  has  been  smitten  with  sudden 
barrenness.  There  must  be  in  Ireland  to-day  many  silent, 
yet  worthy,  successors  of  the  Lord  Plunket,  who  declared 
in  the  peroration  of  his  great  speech  against  the  passing 
of  the  Act  of  Union,  'I  shall  resist  it  to  the  last  gasp  of  my 
breath,  and  the  shedding  of  the  last  drop  of  my  blood; 
and  when  the  hour  of  my  dissolution  is  at  hand,  I  shall  take 
my  son,  as  Hannibal  of  old,  and  make  him  swear  on  the  altar 
of  God,  that  he  too,  to  the  last  drop  of  his  Hfe-blood,  shall 
resist  the  invaders  of  his  country's  liberties.' 

"For  our  country's  sake  let  us  not  despise  or  alienate  such 
generous  help  as  is  now  offered.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  a  nation  which  excludes  from  all  political  fellowship 
one-third  of  its  population,  representing  half  its  wealth 
and  intelligence,  can  make  any  progress  towards  inde- 
pendence or  prosperity.  Thirty  years'  failure  of  such  poHcy 
ought  to  have  convinced  the  nation  by  this  time  that 
Home  Rule  is  absolutely  unattainable  without  the  consent 
of  our  Protestant  fellow-countrymen;  and  it  needs  no  great 
forethought  to  understand  how  unworkable  a  Parliament 
would  be  without  their  cooperation.  We  have  already 
advanced  a  decade  into  the  twentieth  century;  and  whilst 
all  the  young  nations  of  the  earth  are  singing  their  songs 
of  hope  and  victory,  here  we  are  wailing  out  our  desolation 
in  the  ears  of  a  tortured  world,  rattling  our  alms-box,  and 


Chap.  XI]  POLITICAL  CONVICTIONS  231 

exhibiting  our  Lazarus  sores  to  the  nations.  Once,  and 
for  all,  let  us  stand  on  our  feet  like  men.  Let  us  call  in 
and  embody  all  the  forces  at  our  disposal.  Let  us  no  longer 
ahenate  the  sympathies  of  our  fellow-countrymen,  and 
fling  them  into  the  arms  of  England.  Let  us  no  longer 
expatriate  many  brave  young  hearts  that  would  gladly 
give  their  lives  for  Ireland.  Ireland  needs  the  services  of 
all  her  children;  and  it  will  be  a  crime  against  the  mother- 
land and  humanity  if  just  at  this  auspicious  moment  we 
decide  to  prolong  the  bitterness  and  disunion  of  centuries, 
rather  than  accept  with  fraternal  cordiality  the  generous 
offer  of  wealth,  and  talent  and  power,  moral  and  intellectual, 
such  as  probably  no  other  race  can  produce,  and  entrain 
into  the  service  of  Ireland  energies  hitherto  dissipated  in 
fratricidal  strife  or  lent  to  other  nations  who  would  gladly 
make  Ireland  the  footstool  of  their  feet  forever. 

"England  owes  her  world-wide  power,  her  Imperial 
supremacy,  to  her  supreme  talent  of  attracting  and  assimi- 
lating even  the  most  hostile  elements  in  her  subject  races. 
Hindu  and  Malay,  Canadian  and  Australian,  Celt  and  Saxon, 
Norman  and  Dane,  all  are  harnessed  to  her  triumphal  car. 
Ireland,  alas!  has  had  the  talent  of  estranging  and  expelling 
her  own  children,  and  turning  them,  like  disinherited  and 
dishonoured  heirs,  into  her  deadliest  enemies.  It  is  time  that 
all  this  should  cease,  if  we  still  retain  the  ambition  of  creating 
a  nation;  and  if  we  prefer  our  national  independence  to  the 
rancour  and  bitterness  of  sectarian  strife,  and  the  material 
advancement  of  our  country  to  the  dismal  futility  of  nursing 
those  passions  and  prejudices  that  have  hitherto  thrown 
back  one  generation  after  another  of  Irishmen  into  political 
methods  that  were  reactionary;  and  social  schisms  and 
cleavages  that  make  life  one  long  sorrow  to  every  patriotic 
and  disinterested  man." 


XII 

"the    intellectuals"  —  ATTEMPTS    AT    DRAMA 

THE  Intellectuals  was  a  departure  from  Canon  Shee- 
han's  usual  style  of  literary  work;  and  yet  it  shows 
a  fresh  development  of  his  unique  aim.  The  book 
was  meant  to  fill  one  of  the  gaps  in  his  scheme  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  social  and  political  reorganization  of  Ireland 
as  an  independent  nation.  The  subtitle,  "An  Experiment 
in  Irish  Club-Life,"  indicates  the  particular  purpose  of  the 
volume.  It  introduces  several  persons  who  combine  to 
form  a  social  club.  The  original  membership  includes  a 
Catholic  and  a  Protestant,  an  Irishman,  an  EngHshman  and 
a  Scotchman.  They  represent  various  types  of  the  social 
organism,  and  are  further  differentiated  by  their  vocations 
—  the  man  of  affairs,  the  thinker,  the  scientist,  and  the 
professional  man.  The  first  program  excludes  women  from 
membership  in  the  Club.  But  since  the  object  is  to  elicit 
the  expression  of  various  opinions  and  sentiments  within 
the  bounds  of  polite  conversation,  the  motion  for  female 
representation  eventually  prevails,  and  adds  a  tint  of  romance 
to  the  story.  The  author  further  explains  his  object  in  the 
preface:  "To  show  that  there  are  really  no  invincible 
antagonisms  amongst  the  peoples  who  make  up  the  com- 
monwealth of  Ireland,  no  mutual  repugnances  that  may  not 
be  removed  by  a  freer  and  kindlier  intercourse  with  each 
other." 

The  book,  in  connection  with  Canon  Sheehan's  other 
writings,  shows  that  he  meant  quite  systematically  to  solve 
the  problems  of  how  to  secure  Ireland's  self-government. 
The  first  step  had  been  an  effort  to  gain  a  favorable  hearing 
for  his  argument.  Next  he  endeavored  to  educate  those 
whom  he  had  disposed  to  listen  to  him  by  pointing  out  to 
them  the  evils  that  must  be  removed  at  home,  and  those 

232 


Chap.  XII]  "THE   INTELLECTUALS"  233 

from  abroad  against  which  the  people  are  to  be  prepared. 
In  order  to  make  his  work  not  merely  critical  but  also 
constructive,  he  suggested  for  peaceful  adoption  practical 
methods  and  useful  lines  of  action.  Finally,  in  the  present 
book,  he  had  set  himself  to  answer  the  objections  that  might 
be  made  to  an  acceptance,  at  least  tentatively,  of  a  modus 
vivendi  under  existing  conditions,  for  the  diverse  elements 
of  the  Irish  race. 

The  Intellectuals  was  not  originally  intended  for  serial 
publication  in  a  magazine,  but  the  editor  of  the  Irish  Rosary 
prevailed  on  the  author  to  allow  him  the  privilege.  Only 
about  half  of  the  instalments  were  thus  issued;  for  it  soon 
became  clear  that  the  class  of  readers  to  which  the  Rosary 
magazine  appealed  at  the  time  was  not  that  particular  type 
which  Canon  Sheehan  had  in  mind  when  writing  his  Sunetoi, 
under  which  title  the  work  originally  appeared.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  shows  what  he  thought  of  the  matter: 

DONERAILE,    Co.    CoRK. 

September  29,  '10. 

Dear  Fr.  Russell, 

As  we  say  down  south:  "You  have  always  the  pleasant 
word!"  and  your  kind  remarks  about  "The  Sunetoi"  come  in 
very  pleasantly  just  now,  when  Fr.  Coleman  has  decided  to 
suspend,  or  rather,  terminate  the  series  in  his  Magazine.  You 
will  see  by  the  enclosed  letter  that  the  serial  is  not  popular 
with  his  readers;  and  he  seems  to  think  that  the  "Irish  Rosary" 
is  in  jeopardy,  if  it  is  continued. 

I  confess  I  foresaw  all  this;  and  that  it  was  with  much  re- 
luctance, and  only  at  his  repeated  solicitations,  I  placed  the  MS. 
in  his  hands.  I  gave  him  abundant  time  to  read  over  the  MS. 
carefully  before  finally  accepting  it.  Not  that  I  have  any  blame 
for  him.  As  he  rightly  says,  the  interests  of  the  magazine  should 
not  be  imperilled.  One  good  effect  follows  —  that  I  can  bring 
out  the  book  now  at  Xmas  or  the  New  Year,  instead  of  postponing 
publication  to  mid-summer.  There  are  37  Sessions  in  all;  only 
18  have  appeared. 

I  am  quite  incorrigible  about  such  words  as  "morn"  and  "pearl." 
Miss  Emery  pointed  out  the  misdemeanour  before.  It  is  the 
"Cork  Accent"  which  rattles  and  rolls  the  "r's." 


234       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

I  have  just  had  a  cordial  invitation  from  Dr.  Maurice  F. 
Egan  to  the  American  Legation  at  Copenhagen!  And  it  costs 
me  infinite  effort  to  go  outside  my  parish  even  for  a  day!  You 
say:  How  many  minds  I  have  influenced  already!  I  hope  for  good; 
because  as  the  night  draws  on,  we  are  thrown  ever  more  inward 
and  inward  in  self-examination;  and  I  can  only  say  that  my  in- 
tentions were  always  upright  and  sincere,  in  trying  to  lift  the  minds 
of  men  to  higher  levels  of  thought,  through  the  medium  of  litera- 
ture.    How  far  I  have  succeeded,  cannot  yet  be  known. 

I  am,  dear  Fr.  Russell, 

Ever  sincerely, 
P.  A.  Sheehan. 

If  Sunetoi  failed  to  attract  the  average  reader,  there  v^ere 
others  of  the  clientele  of  the  Irish  Rosary  who,  realizing  the 
chief  purpose  of  the  symposium,  keenly  enjoyed  the  spirited 
contest  of  mind  with  mind  displayed  among  the  intellectuals 
of  Canon  Sheehan's  Irish  Club.  This  appears  from  the 
following  comment : 

41  Grosvenor  Road,  Westminster  Embankment, 

March  i^th,  191 1. 

Dear  Canon  Patrick, 

You  gave  me  many  interesting  hours  with  the  Sunetoi  in  the 
Rosary,  but  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  live  those  hours  all  over 
again  in  the  book.  The  study  of  your  psychological  phenomena 
(if  I  may  use  two  such  Greek  jawbreakers)  has  always  a  profound 
interest  for  me  —  we  live  in  so  very  much  the  same  eremitical 
atmosphere,  for  you  can  find  the  Lybian  Desert  quite  as  easily 
in  London  as  in  Doneraile. 

Nearly  everything  you  depict  as  to  the  friendly  mingling  of 
races  and  creeds  would  be  possible  if  you  could  only  realize  your 
first  postulate  —  viz.  that  a  tolerant  and  sympathetic  minded 
Irish  priest  should  be  the  inspiring  force  of  the  reunion.  Alas 
and  alas!  that  postulate  is  the  one  hardest  to  supply.  The 
bishops,  and  priests  in  general,  in  place  of  playing  that  glorious 
part  are  (unconsciously  of  course)  the  principal  force  in  making 
the  enemies  of  peace  and  National  Regeneration  supreme.  How- 
ever, as  long  as  there  is  even  one  Fr.  Dillon  (and  there  are  a  good 
many)  we  must  never  despair  of  his  wisdom  and  noble  courage 
sooner  or  later  taking  hold  of  his  brethren. 


Chap.  XII]  "THE  INTELLECTUALS'*  235 

In  fact  the  best  lesson  of  life  (although  one  of  those  that  gets 
harder  the  longer  we  spend  in  learning  it)  is  never  to  despair  of 
anything.  "Intellectuals,"  if  they  are  worth  their  salt,  must 
begin  by  making  the  best  of  the  fact,  that  whatever  "happiness" 
the  best  minds  can  hope  to  have  in  this  world  must  rather  be 
derived  from  the  happiness  they  give  to  the  non-intellectuals  than 
from  what  they  can  hope  to  receive  in  return. 

And  it  is  in  your  power  to  give  to  our  young  people  in  large 
draughts  an  inspiration  as  wonder-working  as  your  ministrations 
at  a  deathbed  and  far  more  so  than  a  doctor's  drugs.  But  it  must 
be  on  the  conditions  on  which  all  fine  influences  must  be  erected 
viz.  — 

O  men,  this  man  in  brotherhood  your  weary  paths  beguiling, 
Groan'd  inly  while  he  taught  ye  peace,  and  died  while  ye  were  smiling. 

You  plead  truly  that  this  or  that  essay  of  the  Sunetoi  must  not 
be  taken  for  your  own  doctrine.  Quite  rightly  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  Sunetoi  Club;  but  with  wavering  minds  like  those  of 
many  of  our  young  folks,  the  right  doctrine  should  be  singled  out 
and  resolutely  and  clearly  insisted  upon.  And  we  should  be  made 
clearly  to  feel  that  mere  dreaming  may  as  often  as  not  be  mere 
laziness  of  mind  and  body  (all  the  worse  if  we  dignify  it  by  the 
cloudy  name  of  Religion)  and  that  the  despondency  which  too 
often  saps  our  power  of  initiative  is  above  all  else  a  cowardice  in 
the  battle  of  life,  as  ignominious  as  that  of  the  runaway  on  the 
morning  of  a  Waterloo. 

Don't  think  I  am  going  to  climb  into  the  pulpit  myself.  I  am 
only  too  happy  to  "sit  under"  those  who  can  dispense  good  cheer 
for  the  troubles  of  this  world,  and  a  hope  in  a  juster  one  to  come. 
But  you  have  incontestably  the  gift  and  I  think  the  mission  of 
doing  this  for  a  young  Irish  generation  sadly  lacking  in  self-con- 
fidence or  the  courage  to  face  the  great  task  of  life  undauntedly, 
and  failing  better,  I  am  certain  the  Free  Press  gives  you  the  ear 
of  a  great  many  hundreds  of  "Intellectuals"  as  well  as  of  tens  of 
thousands  of  honest  "Non-Intellectuals"  or  "Semi-Intellectuals." 
With  kindest  wishes  from  us  both. 

My  dear  Canon  Patrick, 

Your  affect,  old  friend, 

William  O'Brien. 

The  book  was  issued  during  the  spring  of  191 1  under  its 
present  title. 


236       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK, 

January  ^rd,  191 1. 

Dear  Fr.  Russell, 

I  am  very  busy  correcting  final  proofs  of  The  Intellectuals^  the 
name  (according  to  Mr.  Longman's  wish)  under  which  the  Sunetoi 
is  to  appear  at  the  end  of  the  month.  It  should  form  a  handsome 
volume. 

Do  you  know  anything  of  a  writer  named  William  Smith,  the 
author  of  "Thorndale"  and  a  book  called  "Gravenhurst".?  I 
found  a  review  of  "Thorndale"  many  years  ago  in  "The  Criti- 
cal Essays  of  a  Country  Parson"  and  I  procured  the  book  immedi- 
ately after.  It  has  been  a  favorite  volume  of  mine;  but  on  account 
of  some  scepticism  that  was  incidentally  introduced,  I  forebore 
mentioning  the  book  in  any  of  my  writings.  But  I  am  anxious 
to  know  something  of  the  author.  I  wrote  to  Blackwood,  his 
publisher;  but  they  referred  me  to  the  National  Library  at  Dublin. 
Once  I  came  across  the  name  merely  in  the  "Life  of  G.  Eliot"; 
but  I  can  get  no  further  information.  Yet  I  think  he  must  have 
been  a  singular  man;  and  in  some  way,  his  name  is  associated  in 
my  mind  with  his  sister's:  — 

William  and  Mary  Smith 

With  all  good  wishes  for  the  eventful  year  that  is  stretching 
out  before  us,  j  ^^^  ^^^^  P^    j^^^^^U^ 

Always  sincerely, 
P.  A.  Sheehan.^ 

In  the  following  letter  accompanying  a  presentation  copy 
of  the  volume  to  Mr.  Justice  Holmes  at  Washington,  Canon 
Sheehan  once  more  defines  the  purpose  he  had  in  writing  it: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK. 

March  25,   191 1. 

Dear  Dr.  Holmes, 

I  hardly  expected  that  you  would  find  time  from  your  judicial 
work  to  cast  your  eyes  over  "The  Intellectuals";  and  I  am  greatly 

1  The  William  Smith  referred  to  in  the  above  is  an  English  novelist  and  play- 
right  who  died  in  1872  at  Brighton.  His  two  books,  Thorndale  (1857)  and  Graven- 
hurst  (1862)  are  of  the  "philosophical  romance"  order.  His  peculiarly  critical 
style  bears  out  the  Canon's  surmise  that  he  was  a  singular  man.  Mary  Smith,  his 
wife,  wrote  a  Memoir  of  him  in  1872.  For  a  time  he  wrote  under  the  pseudonym 
of  "  Woolgatherer." 


Chap.  XII]  ATTEMPTS   AT   DRAMA  237 

pleased  that  you  do  not  dislike  the  book.  "Index"  Appro- 
batur!  because  I  know  that  you  think  in  a  complex  and  involved 
manner,  whereas  this  book  had  to  deal  with  platitudes,  and  I  am 
afraid  in  a  way  too  transcendental  for  the  multitude,  and  not 
academic  enough  for  the  learned.  I  intended  it  to  be  an  Eireni- 
con between  the  rather  furious  parties  into  which  the  Irish  life 
is  divided;  but  here  again  I  am  not  oversanguine,  because  the 
book  will  not  be  read  except  by  a  few,  whose  tastes  and  sympa- 
thies have  already  placed  them  beyond  the  zones  of  political  an- 
tagonism. It  is  an  unhappy  and  distracted  country;  and  the 
one  thing  which  hitherto  saved  it  —  a  certain  kind  of  Celtic 
idealism  —  has  now  given  way  before  the  advance  of  materialism. 

At  the  end  of  the  letter  in  a  note  he  adds: 

I  am  taking  a  liberty  in  sending  you  by  Book  Post  this  evening 
my  own  copy  of  "Dante"  —  the  companion  of  my  holidays. 
I  have  unfortunately  made  pencil  marks  here  and  there;  but 
they  will  only  amuse  you.  It  is  a  pretty  and  portable  edition; 
and  perhaps  it  had  not  reached  your  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Don't 
trouble  to  acknowledge:    but  keep  it  in  pignus  amicitiae. 

ATTEMPTS    AT    DRAMA 

At  intervals  during  the  previous  year  Canon  Sheehan 
had  made  some  essays  at  v^hat  he  terms  "A  Drama  of  Modern 
Life"  under  the  title  of  Lost  Angel  of  a  Ruined  Paradise. 
He  intended  it  to  be  presented  by  school  girls,  and  in  particu- 
lar for  the  benefit  of  the  Sick  Children  at  the  Temple  Street 
Hospital,  Dublin.  The  proceeds  of  the  performance  of  the 
play  and  the  sale  of  the  volume  were  to  aid  in  the  erection 
of  their  nev^  Convalescent  Home.  The  dramatic  setting 
is  not  at  all  conventional.  It  consists  of  thirteen  scenes 
named  by  their  contents  and  representing  the  vocational 
attraction  of  some  young  girls  who  have  just  left  school. 
Few  of  the  Canon's  critics  seem  to  have  liked  it.  Father 
Russell  discouraged  future  attempts  in  the  same  direction 
as  a  deviation  from  the  Canon's  settled  path  in  Hterature. 
He  asks: 

Is  Melpomene  the  dramatic  Muse?  I  hope  she  won't  get  hold 
of  you,  no  matter  what  praise  your  "Drama  of  Modern  Life"  may 


238       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

win.  Rosa  Mulholland  tried  two  or  three  plays  —  with  such  a 
moderate  success  that  she  happily  gave  up  the  attempt.  I  ex- 
plained it  by  the  fact  that  the  drama  cuts  off  all  mere  descriptions, 
shrewd  comments  and  other  little  things  that  true  story  tellers 
(like  the  author  of  Marcella  Grace  or  the  author  of  My  New 
Curate)  delight  in.  But  probably,  like  Tennyson  and  his  "Queen 
Mary,"  you  prefer  the  "Lost  Angel  of  a  Ruined  Paradise"  to 
your  stories.     If  so,  you  are  greatly  mistaken. 

You  want  me  to  go  back  to  the  city,  J'y  suis  ei  j'y  reste.  I 
follow  your  example  and  your  counsel.  We  may  thank  the  soli- 
tude of  Doneraile  for  a  good  deal  of  your  work.  My  last  dis- 
covery is  your  sermon  in  the  Homiletic  Monthly.  You  certainly 
have  a  good  many  irons  in  the  fire.     Prosit! 

Ever  yours  affectionately, 
M,  Russell,  S.J. 

A  week  later  he  writes  from  Dublin: 

My  dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

I  have  just  read  through  your  "Drama  of  Modern  Life."  I 
think  you  have  toned  down  Eva  in  the  railway  carriage  a  little. 
I  have  only  seen  one  newspaper  criticism  (was  it  The  Freeman?), 
and  I  have  heard  no  viva  voce  comments  yet.  You  must  not  ex- 
pect the  enthusiasm  that  greeted  former  works;  but  we  cannot 
expect  to  get  "New  Curates"  every  day. 

Now  mind!  the  holier  you  are  and  the  more  Irish,  the  better 
literature  comes  from  you;  and  some  of  your  best  resources  are 
cut  off  by  the  dramatic  form. 

Rosa  Mulholland  tried  two  or  three  little  dramas  which  were 
not  by  any  means  Rosa  Mulholland  at  her  best.  So  you  see  I 
am  rude  enough  and  sincere  enough  to  qualify  my  welcome  for 
your  new  book. 

I  hope  you  are  quite  strong. 

Ever  affectionately  yours, 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 


PASTOR    OF    DONERAILE 1898 


XIII 

THE    CANON   AT   HOME 

BEFORE  speaking  of  Canon    Sheehan's    last    clerical 
novel,    in    which    he    unconsciously    reflects     heart 
struggles  of  an  earlier  time,  let   us    take   a   passing 
glance  at  him  as  he  appears  in  his  literary  workshop. 

No  one  who  met  the  pastor  of  Doneraile  casually  would 
from  his  appearance  suspect  that  he  was  the  man  who 
introduced  the  genial,  whole-hearted  Irish  parish  priest 
"Daddy  Dan"  in  Aly  New  Curate  to  the  literary  world. 
On  the  whole  he  left  on  his  visitors  the  impression  of  an 
habitually  silent,'  distant,  formal  disposition.  In  stature 
rather  tall  and  erect,  his  slightly  angular  figure  harmonized 
with  the  lines  of  his  serious  countenance.  There  was  a 
certain  refinement  about  him  and  an  air  suggestive  of  the 
student.  His  speech,  in  a  clear  voice,  had  a  modulated 
though  in  no  wise  artificial  accentuation;  and  his  pronun- 
ciation was  that  which  one  hears  in  English  academic  circles 
more  often  than  in  Ireland.  Those  who  had  read  his  novels 
would,  on  seeing  him  at  first,  be  apt  to  think  rather  of  Dr. 
Gray,  the  rigid  observer  and  enforcer  of  law  in  the  parishes 
of  Doonvarragh,  Lackagh  and  Athboy,  than  of  the  lovable 
pastor  of  Kilronan.  He  was  self-possessed  and  deliberate 
in  his  movements,  and  the  slight  tremor  of  the  hands, 
indicative  of  nervousness,  was  due  mainly  to  pain,  from  which 
he  suffered  almost  constantly  during  the  later  years  of  his 
life.  But  when  the  Canon  received  a  visitor  in  the  presby- 
tery the  distant  and  courtly  dignity  of  his  manner  quickly 
took  on  the  glow  of  priestly  cordiality.  His  extraordinary 
gift  of  conversation,  based  on  his  ability  to  enter  into  the 
viewpoint  of  those  with  whom  he  spoke,  and  his  wide  range 
of  information,  would  soon  reveal  a  wholly  diflferent  man 
from  what  the  outer  shell  suggested.     He  drew  one's  heart 

239 


24©       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

to  him  in  some  inexplicable  manner  which  no  doubt  fur- 
nishes the  reason  why  his  own  people  and  especially  the 
children  knew  him  only  as  "  Father  Pat."  The  writer  recalls 
how,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  him  in  1908,  his  casual 
apology  for  the  absence  on  a  Friday  of  what  he  considered 
choice  fish  for  dinner,  led  readily  to  the  discussion  of  the 
economic  problems  that  harass  Ireland,  and  which  were 
to  him  issues  of  real  moment.  I  had  expressed  some  aston- 
ishment at  his  remark  about  the  lack  of  fish.  Could  there 
be  any  such  want  in  Ireland,  the  favored  spot  in  all  the  world, 
where  the  finest  trout  disported  itself  in  the  brook  at  his 
very  door?  For  here  was  the  Awbeg;  and  not  far  away 
its  sister  streams,  the  Allow  and  Fanshion,  which  were  fed 
by  the  rich  falls  of  the  Blackwater;  and  beyond  in  the  hills 
were  the  Suir,  the  Barrow  and  Nore  meandering  through 
the  deep  valleys;  and  were  there  not  numerous  bights  all 
along  the  southern  Atlantic  coast  from  Dingle  in  the  west 
to  Dublin  Bay  in  the  east,  where  trawlers  Vvere  netting  rich 
stores  of  sea  food?  Why  surely  it  was  Ireland  that  supplied 
almost  three-fourths  of  the  best  salmon  and  trout,  not  to 
speak  of  brill  and  soles  and  turbot  and  plaice,  haddock, 
whiting,  bass  and  red  mullet,  for  all  the  fish  marts  of  the 
British  Isles. 

''Precisely,"  he  answered,  "and  if  it  were  not  for  the  dis- 
trict statutes  with  their  inspectors,  police  and  coast  guards, 
their  rate  and  license  duties,  by  which  they  restrict  the 
rights  of  private  property  on  water  as  well  as  on  land,  we 
should  enjoy  a  very  rich  harvest  from  river  and  sea.  But 
British  law  eflPectually  controls  not  only  the  trawling  and  net 
industry,  but  line  fishing  also.  We  catch  the  fish,  and  then 
it  is  boxed,  labeled,  and  packed  off  to  Dublin  or  to  Billings- 
gate; whence  we  buy  it  back  for  our  tables,  somewhat  less 
fresh  and  a  trifle  dearer  on  account  of  the  transport  and 
official  budget." 

But  we  had  very  palatable  fish  for  all  that;  and  the 
sauce  was  spiced  by  the  conversational  graces  of  the  Canon. 
The  keynote  of  this  comments  turned  upon  the  Ameri- 
can invasion  of  the  Irish  industries.     "America  gives  the 


Chap.  XIII]  THE   CANON  AT  HOME  241 

Irishmen  work,  makes  them  rich,  —  abroad.  America  also 
feeds  a  large  part  of  the  Irish  people  more  comfortably 
at  home  than  it  had  been  possible  before  the  exodus.  America 
sends,  apart  from  the  money  that  comes  from  relatives  in 
the  States  and  Canada,  its  commercial  products,  grain, 
maize,  canned  meats  and  vegetables,  at  a  rate  at  which 
we  could  never  produce  them  in  Ireland  or  England.  Free 
trade  makes  all  that  possible;  and  it  seems  a  benefit.  But 
in  reality  it  is  a  blight  on  Ireland's  energy  —  Ireland  looking 
toward  freedom." 

"But,"  I  objected,  "were  not  the  Americans  who  had 
emigrated  from  Ireland  actually  promoting  emancipation 
by  supporting  the  Irish  agitation  for  self-government; 
making  constant  and  effectual  propaganda  through  the 
press,  in  its  behalf:  furnishing  to  the  Irish  Parliamentary 
Party  the  financial  aid  that  was  required  for  organizing 
purposes,  etc.  .^" 

"Yes.  But  while  they  are  doing  all  these  things  they 
lower  the  moral  standard  by  which  we  seek  emancipation; 
they  withdraw  the  manhood  and  maidenhood  of  Ireland 
to  distant  parts  where  the  untutored  youth  is  taught  that 
money  is  the  chief  object  of  labor;  where  our  lads  are  led  to 
prostitute  their  noblest  energies  to  earn  dollars  whilst  they 
are  being  familiarized  with  the  vices  of  modern  civilization, 
and  filled  with  admiration  for  an  artificial  and  temporary 
prosperity;  where  they  lose  in  large  measure  that  sim- 
plicity of  faith,  that  attachment  to  religion  and  the  Church, 
which  their  brethern  and  they  themselves  had  helped  to 
build  up  in  the  New  World,  even  whilst  they  were  gradually 
abandoning  its  practices  amid  their  striving  after  success. 
Above  all,  the  wealthy  Irish  American  is  raising  a  generation 
that  learns  not  merely  to  forget  the  old  land  of  their  fathers, 
but  to  become  ashamed  of  it;  to  imitate  the  manners  and 
fashions,  and  last  of  all  the  vices  and  infidelity  of  the  great 
body  of  Americans  who  recognize  no  definite  faith;  and 
who  make  civic  virtue  their  sole  religion,  secular  training 
their  sole  education,  and  worldly  success  the  standard  of 
all  their  attainments."     America,  as  he  saw  it,  is  a  land 


242       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

where  home  life  is  being  systematically  destroyed,  "not 
merely  by  separating  its  members  from  the  hearth,  but  by 
the  practice  of  race  suicide  and  economic  devices  that  tend 
to  decrease  the  family."  These  things,  he  thought,  were 
going  on  slowly  but  they  were  going  on,  to  the  loss  of  Irish 
loyalty,  Irish  faith  and  Irish  virtue;  and  with  that  loss 
would  come  a  deterioration  of  the  intellectual  as  well  as  the 
moral  standard  of  the  race.  Those  who  remained  at  home, 
and  who  were  not  dying  of  inanition  or  old  age,  were  being 
tainted  by  bad  influences  from  abroad. 

There  was  no  bitterness  in  what  the  Canon  said,  but  an 
inexpressible  tone  of  sadness;  and  I  could  not  but  think 
that  what  he  feared  was  largely  true. 

After  dinner  we  adjourned  to  his  den.  He  had  already 
shown  us  the  surroundings  of  his  presbytery,  the  garden 
and  his  favorite  nooks  where  he  wrote  the  best  that  has 
come  from  his  heart  and  mind.  There  was  a  remarkable 
air  of  order  and  EngHsh  tidiness  about  everything  in  and 
around  the  house.  No  token  of  luxury  or  self-indulgence; 
on  the  contrary,  a  certain  severity  everywhere,  excepting 
perhaps  in  the  dining  room.  Yet  it  was  all  extremely 
attractive,  much  like  a  bit  of  fresh  forest-preserve  with  its 
tall  and  straight  trees,  well  trimmed  to  shelter  and  to 
please.  Although  everything  reflected  the  habits  of  the 
student  and  of  refined  taste,  there  was  no  great  display  of 
books.  The  upper  room,  fitted  up  as  a  library,  contained 
only  a  meager  selection  of  volumes.  But  they  were  choice 
in  quality  —  English,  French,  German,  Italian.  There 
were  a  small  desk  and,  I  think,  three  comfortable  chairs. 

Before  turning  to  the  subject  of  his  writings,  I  suggested 
the  possibility  of  his  arranging  to  go  with  me  to  America. 
It  would  not  be  necessary  to  announce  his  intention  to  the 
public,  or  even  to  make  known  his  identity  at  his  arrival,  as 
the  author  of  My  New  Curate.  When  he  had  completed  his 
observations,  and  gathered,  unbiased  by  any  prepossessions, 
sufficient  material  for  a  clerical  novel  in  an  American 
setting  he  might  drop  his  incog.  Priests  were  pretty  much 
alike  the  world  over  in  their  fundamental  traits,  aims,  and 


Chap.  XIII]  THE   CANON  AT   HOME  243 

occupations.  They  differed  in  their  habits,  in  their  manners, 
in  their  methods  of  carrying  out  their  evangehcal  message. 
The  differences  were  determined  by  their  surroundings. 
And  the  surroundings  could  be  studied;  they  would  be  easily 
diagnosed  in  their  essential  features  provided  one  was  free 
from  the  danger  of  being  imposed  upon  by  superficial  impres- 
sions or  by  what  people  arranged  for  his  entertainment 
chiefly.  Moreover  the  proposed  visit  would  tend  to  alter 
some  of  his  prepossessions  about  the  corrupting  influences 
of  which  he  had  just  spoken  as  prevalent  in  American  public 
life.  ;. 

He  had  listened  very  quietly  to  the  end.  Then  he  shook 
his  head;  rather  sadly.  "It  is  what  I  have  had  in  my  mind 
and  much  desired;  but  it  is  too  late.  My  health  is  in  truth 
very  poor.  I  cannot  bear  to  travel  any  distance  now,  and 
I  must  content  myself  with  remaining  at  home  —  where 
indeed  my  heart  is.  I  have  a  very  good  people,  ah  —  and 
the  children!" 

We  then  talked  about  his  parish.  He  had  accompHshed 
the  one  object  for  which  he  set  out  when  he  became  a  pastor; 
although  he  had  not  formulated  his  aims  so  definitely 
then  as  he  could  do  now  when  he  saw  life  in  retrospect. 
The  farmers  of  his  district,  who  had  been  tenants  and  had 
labored  hke  their  fathers,  generation  after  generation,  to 
enrich  the  landlords,  were  now  the  proprietors  of  the  soil. 
Each  family  had  its  own  home,  which  could  be  improved, 
and  where  people  were  free  from  the  molestations  of  the  land 
agents  or  the  fear  of  eviction  that  had  so  often  harassed 
them  of  recent  years.  There  was  not  a  single  tenant  in  his 
parish  who  had  not  assented  to  the  Purchase  Act,  and  who 
was  not  paying  off  the  instalments  toward  the  ownership 
of  his  farm  in  place  of  rent.  That  was  a  great  comfort 
to  the  Canon.  It  had  been  chiefly  his  work.  And  it  opened 
new  opportunities  to  do  for  his  people  what  he  could  not  have 
done  for  them  under  any  other  circumstances.  He  could 
say:  "Michael,  build  a  fence  round  your  house;  and 
put  up  a  sty  for  the  pigs  instead  of  letting  them  grub  in  the 
kitchen;   plant  flowers  in  front  of  the  house,  and  let  Lizzie 


244       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

put  clean  bibs  on  the  children  when  they  go  to  school." 
And  he  would  not  meet  the  reply:  "What's  the  use,  your 
Reverence;   it  would  only  raise  the  rlnt  on  us." 

Time  sped  amid  these  interesting  sidelights  of  the  Canon's 
activities.  But  I  had  come  to  obtain,  if  possible,  fresh 
material  for  the  Ecclesiastical  Review.  When  I  broached 
the  subject  he  alertly  arose,  and,  reaching  to  his  desk, 
took  out  a  packet  of  manuscript,  the  kind  with  which  I  had 
become  familiar  through  the  past  years. 

"Here,"  he  said,  "is  what  I  have  been  working  on  for 
some  time.  It  will  probably  be  the  last  thing  I  shall  be 
able  to  do.  For  I  feel  my  time  on  earth  is  measured;  and 
I  am  a  bit  weary." 

It  was  the  manuscript  of  The  Blindness  of  the  Very  Reverend 
Dr.  Gray.  There  was  another  title  to  it.  The  inscription 
on  the  first  page  read: 

"the   final   law" 

I  looked  over  it.  The  same  careful  writing,  marking  of 
periods,  division  of  paragraphs  and  titles,  as  though  it  were 
a  fair  copy  of  a  well  corrected  original.  But  he  had  no 
duplicate  or  notes.  It  was  just  as  he  had  written  it  each 
successive  day  when  at  rest  from  his  pastoral  toil.  There 
were  some  chapters  to  be  filled  in;  but  the  last  was  complete. 
It  all  looked  like  a  perfect  piece  of  work;  for  he  wrote  as 
he  spoke,  with  the  same  measured  and  calculated  finish, 
and  yet  with  those  touches  of  deep  emotion  which  seem 
to  preclude  anything  like  deliberation. 

That  was  indeed  his  marvelous  power.  He  had  stored 
his  mind  by  careful  reading  in  earlier  years.  He  had 
trained  it  to  accurate  reasoning,  and  he  had  sedulously 
practiced  the  art  of  expression.  Now  all  composition  was 
easy  to  him.  He  might  have  to  look  up  a  fact,  or  a  date, 
or  verify  a  source  in  some  volume  with  which  he  was  famihar, 
or  in  an  encyclopedia;  but  he  knew  where  to  find  what  he 
wanted;  and  he  knew  how  to  group  his  thoughts  to  advan- 
tage so  as  to  make  a  true  picture  and  teach  a  useful  lesson. 

He  permitted  me  to  look  through  the  first  chapter  while 


Chap.  XIII]  THE   CANON  AT  HOME  245 

he  occupied  himself  with  my  companion.  Then  I  asked 
him  to  read  me  a  chapter  of  his  own  choosing;  which  he 
did  with  wonderful  effect  and  a  certain  solemn  thrill.  It 
was  the  chapter  in  which  the  blind  priest  bids  farewell 
to  his  people,  when  he  discovers  for  the  first  time  the  hidden 
love  that  has  silently  bound  them  to  him  for  years.  I  felt 
convinced  that  he  was  rehearsing  some  episode  from  his 
own  fruitful  life.  So  it  proved  to  be.  The  story  of  Dr. 
Gray  reveals  some  traits  of  Canon  Sheehan's  inner  life  during 
the  years  of  his  pastorate,  down  to  its  approaching  end,  at 
the  time  when  we  saw  him. 

The  reader  will  remember  the  general  trend  of  that  remark- 
able novel.  It  describes  an  old  priest  and  his  curate. 
The  former,  trained  in  the  school  of  Jansenistic  rigor  in 
theology,  views  all  things  in  the  light  of  law.  He  takes 
no  account  of  the  weaknesses,  the  fallacies,  the  deep-rooted 
habits  of  feeling,  that  determine  the  actions  of  men  under 
the  stress  of  custom  or  passion,  of  misapprehension  or 
superstitious  fears.  He  goes  by  the  written  norm,  the 
unalterable  law  of  God,  the  rules  and  canons  of  the  Church. 
As  a  result,  he  becomes  outwardly  harsh,  cold,  unsympathetic 
in  manner;  and  his  severity  makes  his  people  shy  and  afraid 
of  him;  the  intercourse  between  them  takes  on  that  dis- 
tance and  distrust  which  are  the  invariable  outcome  of  rigor 
in  a  superior.  The  old  priest  persuades  himself  gradually 
that  his  people  dishke  him  as  well  as  fear  him.  But  he 
cannot  alter  this  condition,  without  offending  the  law  of 
which  he  is  the  jealous  keeper;  and  their  constant  tres- 
passes convince  him  that  they  are  not  only  incorrigible  but 
resentful  as  well.  In  this  he  fails  to  measure  rightly  the 
affections  of  the  Irish  people  for  their  priests.  They  stand 
in  awe  of  him  indeed;  but  it  is  because  they  realize  that  he 
is  the  executive  of  ideals  too  high  for  them  to  reach. 

All  the  while  his  untarnished  life,  his  fidelity  to  the  law 
of  God,  raises  him  in  their  esteem,  although  his  manner 
forbids  their  showing  it.  To  all  this  he  is  intellectually 
blind.  As  time  goes  on  he  loses  his  physical  eyesight,  and 
resolves  to  give  up  his  position  as  pastor.     The  dramatic 


246       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

incidents  surrounding  his  farewell  are  heightened  by  the 
occurrence  of  a  murder  in  his  parish,  and  by  the  additional 
sorrow  of  the  turning  from  him  of  a  young  orphaned  niece 
who  elects  to  go  abroad  as  a  professional  nurse  to  an  unfor- 
tunate boy  who  has  been  ordered  by  his  physician  to  a 
southern  cHmate  as  the  only  means  of  saving  his  hfe.  The 
girl's  choice  is  in  the  eyes  of  the  aged  priest  contrary  to  the 
old  Christian  ideas  of  modesty  and  prudence,  and  he  sees 
in  her  action  the  cause  of  scandal  to  his  flock.  Beautiful, 
clever,  and  well  educated  in  an  American  convent  school, 
the  young  woman  had  been  left  at  her  mother's  death  in 
charge  of  her  uncle,  this  priest  who  knows  not  compromise. 
Contrary  to  all  his  instincts  and  principles,  he  had  allowed 
the  child  to  come  to  Ireland  and  reside  under  his  roof. 
Then  she,  with  American  independence,  though  with  no 
want  of  loyal  respect  for  her  guardian,  had  adopted  the 
profession  of  nurse. 

'T  know  that  her  motives  are  the  purest  and  holiest  in  sacri- 
ficing herself  to  accompany  a  dying  boy  to  far-away  Africa.  I 
know  that  my  niece  is  a  professional  nurse,  and  bound  to  attend 
patients,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor.  But  whatever  be  thought 
of  these  arguments  in  medical  circles  and  whatever  be  the  new- 
fangled principles  that  have  come  into  being  these  last  few  years 
with  what  is  called  the  progress  of  science  and  education,  I  have 
to  consider  the  interests  of  my  flock  which,  at  least  as  yet,  has  not 
abandoned  the  old  Christian  ideas  of  maiden  modesty  and  pru- 
dence. Hence  I  gave  my  niece  the  alternative  of  staying  at  home 
with  me  or  leaving  me  forever.  She  took  her  choice.  And," 
he  said  fiercely,  "I  have  cut  her  image  out  of  my  heart  forever. 
She  shall  never  darken  my  door  again.  She  shall  never  sit  at  my 
table  again.  She  shall  never  hear  my  voice.  God  knows,  it  is 
true,  I  did  look  forward  to  the  time  when  she  might  be  a  help  to 
me  and  a  comfort  in  my  old  age  and  blindness.  The  strongest  of 
us  will  cling  to  some  support  in  our  darkness  and  descent  toward 
the  grave;  and  I  was  hoping  that  in  my  darkness  and  sorrow  I 
would  have  some  one  near  to  help  me  to  spend  the  lonely  and  sor- 
rowful hours  of  a  blind  old  age.     That  is  not  to  be." 

He  paused;  and  there  was  the  deepest  silence  in  the  church, 
except  for  the  sobbing  of  the  women,  who  swayed  themselves  to 


Chap.  XIII]  THE   CANON  AT   HOME  247 

and  fro,  under  the  tragic  solemnity  of  the  scene,  and  who  broke 
into  loud  wailing  when  the  priest's  voice  faltered  as  he  said: 
"The  strongest  of  us  will  cling  to  some  support  in  our  dark- 
ness and  descent  toward  the  grave."  The  men  looked  down, 
fingering  their  hats,  but  their  faces  were  set  and  pale  with 
emotion. 

"And  now,"  said  the  parish  priest,  in  a  softer  voice,  "I  have 
to  announce  to  you  that  I  am  no  longer  your  pastor.  I  have  sent 
in  my  resignation  to  your  Bishop,  and  he  has  accepted  it.  I  had 
hoped,"  he  continued,  not  noticing  the  increased  emotion  of  the 
people,  "to  remain  your  pastor  to  the  end,  because  there  is  a 
certain  human  pride  or  vanity  in  dying  with  the  honors  of  one's 
profession  and  in  harness  .  .  .  For  twenty-five  years  I  have  tried 
to  serve  God  and  you,  imperfectly  and  feebly  I  know,  but  yet  I 
think  with  honesty  and  sincerity.  I  can  say  with  St.  Paul  that 
I  did  not  covet  your  gold  or  silver.  Probably  you  thought  I 
was  often  exacting  about  dues;  but  it  wasn't  for  myself,  but  be- 
cause I  thought  it  was  a  duty  I  had  to  discharge.  To-day,  if  my 
debts  were  paid,  I  would  not  be  worth  one  shilling.  In  other  things 
too  you  thought  me  hard;  but  it  was  the  hardness  of  the  father 
that  seeks  the  welfare  of  his  child,  and  puts  his  eternal  salvation 
before  everything  else.  Hence  I  know  that  I  was  neither  loved 
nor  liked  in  this  parish  — " 

"You  were,  you  were,  yer  reverence,"  cried  a  woman,  pas- 
sionately sobbing,  "but  you  didn't  know  the  people.  You 
kep'  away  from  'em,  but  they  loved  you  in  their  heart  of 
hearts." 

"An'  'tis  God  Almighty's  truth  that  the  woman  is  afther 
spakin',"  said  a  farmer,  standing  up,  although  his  voice  shook 
with  the  unusual  experience  of  having  spoken  in  a  church. 

A  deep  murmur  of  approbation  and  sympathy  ran  through  the 
congregation  at  these  words.  It  was  an  inarticulate  but  eloquent 
declaration  of  love  and  loyalty  that  a  king  might  envy.  It 
touched  the  strong  man  at  the  altar  so  keenly  that  his  whole 
frame  shook  with  emotion,  and  his  trembling  hand  went  fumbling 
beneath  the  chasuble  for  his  handkerchief.  And  when  he  took  out 
the  old  red  handkerchief,  and  lifting  up  the  black  glasses,  wiped 
those  eyes  where  the  light  of  heaven  would  never  shine  again,  a 
low  long  wail  of  anguish  rose  up  from  the  dense  mass  of  people, 
and  many  a  heartfelt  and  burning  word  in  Irish  reached  the  ears 
of  the  weeping  priest. 


248       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

He  goes  on  to  tell  them  how  from  the  beginning  all  his 
hope  and  ambition  had  been  centered  in  these  few  words: 
"To  do  God's  work,  however  imperfectly,  to  serve  Ireland, 
however  unworthily." 

"Then  I  thought,  perhaps  unwisely,  that  the  new  generation 
which  had  arisen  did  not  understand  these  things  —  that  there  was 
more  selfishness,  more  cunning,  more  treachery  in  these  days 
than  in  the  days  that  are  gone.  But  somehow  little  glimpses  into 
the  lives  of  the  people,  from  time  to  time,  made  me  suspect  that 
perhaps  I  had  misunderstood  them;  and  to-day  as  I  am  leaving 
you,  I  most  humbly  ask  your  pardon  and  that  of  Almighty  God,  if 
I  have  formed  a  wrong  judgment  about  you  .  .  .  Forget,  as  far 
as  you  can,  my  own  failings  whilst  I  was  here,  and  be  merciful 
to  my  memory  when  I  am  dead." 

The  picture  of  the  lonely  old  priest  "whose  devotion 
through  life  is  to  law  rather  than  to  love,  cherishing 
in  his  heart  a  passionate  sympathy  for  the  Fenians  of  his 
youth,"  had  at  least  some  of  the  prominent  traits  of  the 
solitude-loving  pastor  of  Doneraile.  But  in  the  story  there 
are  touches  of  deep  color  reminiscent  of  other  sources 
whence  he  caught  the  inspiration  with  which  he  harmonized 
his  own  feelings.  It  contains  many  exquisite  passages,  as 
one  of  the  critics  of  this  volume  puts  it,^  "so  true  and  deli- 
cate in  their  analysis  as  to  suggest  unconscious  biography." 
I  am  told  that  the  original  of  Dr.  Gray  was  a  Canon  Murphy 
of  Cloyne,  long  since  dead,  the  echoes  of  whose  somewhat 
odd  but  noble  disposition  have  been  kept  alive  among  the 
clergy  of  his  diocese.  But,  as  usual  with  Canon  Sheehan's 
characters,  whilst  they  take  their  main  features  from  some 
definite  original,  they  were  developed  without  reference  to 
the  first  model.  In  one  respect  there  is  a  likeness  between 
Canon  Sheehan  and  his  hero.  For  a  time  his  own  parishion- 
ers did  not  understand  their  pastor  or  feel  attracted  to  him. 
They  thought  him,  as  did  many  of  his  brother  priests, 
too  aloof  from  and  out  of  sympathy  with  their  foibles  and 
ordinary  aims.  But  they  gradually  came  to  appreciate 
rightly  his  silence.     When  at  length  they  found  him  to  be 

1  Dublin  Review,  Vol.  147,  p.  184. 


Chap.  XIII]  THE   CANON  AT  HOME  249 

their  truest  friend,  they  half  consciously  manifested  their 
love  for  him  beneath  their  timid  reverence,  and  as  a  result 
he  in  turn  became  more  and  more  enamored  of  his  flock. 
But  of  this  later  on. 

Dr.  Gray's  devotion  to  law  rather  than  to  the  spirit  of  love 
probably  represents  a  temptation  that  had  come  to  Father 
Sheehan  during  the  first  years  of  his  pastorate  at  Doneraile; 
just  as  we  have  him  interpret  through  Father  Letheby 
and  Luke  Delmege  some  of  his  personal  experiences  and 
characteristic  aims  and  mistakes  while  a  young  curate  at 
Mallow  or  at  Exeter. 

The  novel  is  in  more  than  one  respect  a  perfect  counter- 
part of  My  New  Curate.  The  chief  figures,  the  melo- 
dramatic situations,  the  mingling  of  humor  and  pathos 
as  they  forever  change  the  sky  of  the  Irish  heart,  all  these 
are  there  in  happy  proportion  and  worked  out  with  a  mas- 
terful grace  and  life-like  truth. 

As  the  manuscript  of  the  novel  was  not  quite  completed, 
we  agreed  upon  its  publication  in  the  following  November. 
The  title  "The  Final  Law"  did  not  sufficiently  convey 
the  character  and  form  of  the  serial  and  was  accordingly 
changed.     The  following  letter  refers  to  the  matter: 

Doneraile,  Co.  Cork. 

Sept.  23,  '08. 

Dear  Fr.  Heuser, 

Your  letter  to  hand.  I  should  wish  very  much  to  meet  your 
wishes  in  altering  the  title;  but  the  one  you  suggest^  is  some- 
what cumbersome  and  too  long;  and,  as  I  am  sure  to  be  carefully 
criticised  here  at  home,  I  should  not  wish  to  put  the  feminine 
element  too  prominently  forward.  It  will  reveal  itself.  I  feel 
that  a  concrete  title  is  best,  as  you  suggest.  What  would  you 
think  of 

"  The  Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray " 

It  would  apply  to  his  physical  and  metaphysical  infirmity.     Or: 

"Ward  and  Guardian" 
I  prefer  the  former,     The  latter,  I  think,  has  been  used. 

^  I  had  suggested  as  a  tentative  and  captious  title  "The  Reverend  Dr.  Gray  and 
his  American  Niece." 


2 so       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

On  my  return  to  London  I  called  on  Mr.  Charles  Longman 
to  make  arrangements  for  the  publication  of  the  serial 
in  book  form  after  it  should  have  appeared  in  the  Review. 
The  first  instalment  was  printed  in  November,  1907.  The 
novel  ran  for  nearly  two  years,  and  was  issued  as  a  separate 
volume  at  the  end  of  1909. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL    MEMOIR 

Among  other  manuscripts  which  Canon  Sheehan  had 
completed  at  this  time  were  two  volumes  of  Memoirs. 
"These,"  he  said,  "will  not  be  published  until  after  my 
death."  He  gave  me  to  understand  that  they  contained 
reflections  upon  his  own  work,  the  difficulties  and  disap- 
pointments that  he  had  encountered,  and  the  mistakes 
made  by  himself  as  well  as  by  his  critics.  So  much  I  learnt 
from  him  at  the  time.  It  was  a  sort  of  literary  testament 
made  in  view  of  the  disease  that  was  hastening  him  to 
the  grave.  He  alludes  to  it  in  a  letter  to  Father  Matthew 
Russell,  S.J.,  some  time  later,  when  he  appears  to  have 
changed  his  mind  regarding  its  publication. 

DoNERAiLE,  Sept.  8,  191 1. 

Dear  Fr.  Russell, 

I  am  afraid  that  you  will  not  find  these  "Memoirs"  too  enter- 
taining;  but  there  are  a  few  interesting  episodes  here  and  there. 

They  are  not  intended  for  print  at  anytime;  I  wrote  them  about 
eight  years  ago  just  to  preserve  them  for  my  own  amusement. 
There  is  another  Fasciculus  dealing  with  my  life  in  Doneraile  and 
as  an  author:    but  it  is  not  complete.  .  .  . 

If  you  are  not  ambitious  enough  to  reach  the  century,  you  will 
surely  surmount  the  last  fence,  marked  90. 

Always  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

Two  years  later,  a  few  days  before  his  death,  the  Canon 
called  his  brother  and  asked  him  to  go  over  with  him  his 
letters  and  other  papers.  These  he  had  already  carefully 
arranged  and  tied  together  with  notes  indicating  their 
dates  and  contents,  evidently  with  a  view  to  their  final 
disposition.     Placing  his  hand  on  the  Memoirs  of  his  own 


Chap.  XIII]  THE   CANON  AT  HOME  251 

life,  he  said  to  his  brother:  "These  might  do  harm  to 
others;  let  us  destroy  them."  And  then  and  there  the 
volumes  of  manuscript  were  thrown  into  the  open  grate, 
while  the  dying  priest  watched  the  red  flames  as  they  crept 
from  sheet  to  sheet  and  curled  to  brown  and  black,  until 
the  glow  died  down,  leaving  nothing  of  the  pages  but  the 
flaky  tinder  with  its  edges  of  ashy  gray. 


XIV 

PROPOSED    FOR    A    BISHOPRIC 

ABOUT  this  time  Canon  Sheehan  received  a  singular 
testimony  of  his  widespread  popularity.  His  fame 
as  a  writer  had  in  no  way  obscured  the  appreciation 
in  which  he  was  held  by  those  who  knew  what  he  had 
already  accomplished  as  the  shepherd  of  his  flock,  for 
the  report  of  his  pastoral  work  also  had  gone  abroad.  On 
17  July,  1909,  the  administrator  and  the  archpriest  of  Lismore 
in  New  South  Wales,  Australia,  cabled  their  congratulations 
to  the  parish  priest  of  Doneraile,  in  the  name  of  the  Province 
of  Sydney,  on  his  nomination  as  the  "dignior"  candidate 
for  the  episcopal  see  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Bishop 
Jeremiah  Doyle  in  June  of  that  year.  The  Australian 
press  described  Canon  Sheehan  as  a  churchman  of  world- 
wide fame,  whom  the  CathoHcs  of  New  South  Wales  would 
proudly  hail  as  their  bishop.  They  did  not  suspect  any 
more  than  his  parishioners  and  friends  that  the  busy  pastor 
of  the  little  parish  of  Doneraile  was  suffering  from  an  illness 
that  made  him  steadily  look  toward  death  as  his  next  pro- 
motion. Undoubtedly  the  knowledge  that  his  selection 
could  not  have  been  brought  about  without  the  approval 
of  his  own  superiors  in  Ireland,  who  thus  showed  their 
confidence  in  his  ability,  must  have  been  gratifying  to  him. 
No  less  was  he  pleased  with  the  esteem  manifested  by  those 
who  had  chosen  him.  To  the  Dean  of  the  Lismore  diocese 
he  wrote  his  acknowledgments: 

The  surprise  I  received  at  such  an  unexpected  message  was 
hardly  equalled  by  the  sense  of  gratitude  towards  a  body  of  priests 
who  paid  such  a  compliment  to  a  far-away  and  unknown  colleague. 

The  honour  you  would  confer  on  me  is  one  that  I  shall  not  at- 
tain, and  of  which  I  am  not  worthy.  I  am  now  an  infirm  and  feeble 
man,  just  able  to  guide  the  destinies  of  a  humble  Irish  parish, 

2^2 


Chap.  XIV]         PROPOSED   FOR   A   BISHOPRIC         253 

but  quite  unfitted  to  preside  over  a  diocese  in  a  new  and  ever- 
advancing  country.  But  my  sense  of  the  honour  you  would 
confer  on  me  is  by  no  means  lessened  by  the  sense  of  my  own 
unworthiness  and  incapacity,  and  I  have  an  idea  that  when  I 
have  advanced  farther  down  the  decHvities  of  life,  and  shall  be 
able  to  measure  the  paces  I  have  passed  through,  the  one  event 
that  shall  shine  forth  as  the  brightest  spot  in  the  past  shall  be 
the  recognition  of  a  body  of  priests,  separated  in  space,  but 
akin  in  race  and  sympathy. 

Meanwhile  he  took  definite  steps  to  prevent  the  Holy- 
See  from  accepting  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  the  bishopric. 
To  Mgr.  Keller  at  Youghal,  Vicar  General  of  the  Cloyne 
diocese  and  his  friend  of  long  standing,  he  wrote  a  strong 
appeal,  asking  him  to  use  his  influence  with  His  Eminence 
Cardinal  Logue  to  frustrate  any  possible  appointment. 
He  stated  that  the  condition  of  his  health  would  not  permit 
him  to  accept  so  important  a  charge,  especially  in  a  mis- 
sionary district  where  vigorous  activity  was  required. 
The  Primate  promised  to  use  his  influence  in  the  desired 
direction,  and  to  place  the  matter  before  Cardinal  Gotti. 
In  December  of  the  same  year  Dr.  John  Carroll,  a  native 
of  Kilken,  was  appointed  to  the  See,  and  Canon  Sheehan 
felt  relieved. 

In  a  congratulatory  letter  to  Justice  Holmes,  on  whom 
Oxford  University  had  shortly  before  bestowed  the  honor- 
ary degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  Canon  Sheehan  speaks  of  the 
proposed  Australian  promotion: 

DONERAILE,   August   3 1,   '09. 

My  dear  Judge  Holmes, 

If  you  were  now  in  Washington,  gowned  and  ermined,  and  try- 
ing to  maintain  judicial  equanimity  in  an  atmosphere  of  94°  or  so, 
I  would  not  inflict  a  letter  on  you.  But,  seeing  that  you  are 
happily  in  undress,  and  with  no  responsibility  beyond  the  ordi- 
nary human  duty  of  killing  time,  and  strolling  on  pebbly  beaches, 
and  driving  through  fragrant  pine-woods,  I  cannot  forego  what  is 
to  me  a  very  great  pleasure  indeed,  —  namely,  to  congratulate 
you  on  the  distinction  lately  conferred  on  you  by  the  Oxford 
Dons, 


254       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

The  fact  has  raised  these  latter  gentlemen  somewhat  in  my  es- 
teem, because  it  seems  to  indicate  that  they  have  departed  from 
what  has  been  a  religious  tradition  in  the  British  mind,  that 
everything  American  is  very  "young"  and  immature,  and  still 
under  the  benevolent  patronage  of  the  mother  country.  Only 
quite  lately  in  the  "Times"  literary  supplement,  some  letters  of 
Swinburne's  were  published,  in  which  he  speaks  in  a  very  patronis- 
ing manner  of  your  Emerson;  and  again,  quite  lately,  I  have  been 
reading  the  letters  of  Coventry  Patmore  in  which  he  ridicules  the 
idea  that  Longfellow  could  ever  be  considered  a  poet.  And  I 
send  you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  supplement  (Times)  in  which 
you  will  notice  a  certain  tone  of  British  condescension  towards 
American  litterateurs,  whilst  accepting  the  world's  verdict  on  the 
"Autocrat."  When,  therefore,  Oxford  found  you  out,  I  am  be- 
ginning to  respect  the  English  intellect  a  little,  and  to  think  that 
in  their  own  elephantine  manner,  they  are  being  spurred  into  line 
with  the  thinkers  of  other  nations. 

Only  yesterday,  your  name  turned  up  in  Doneraile  Park. 
Lady  Castletown  mentioned  that  you  had  been  over;  but  I  think 
they  regretted  they  had  not  seen  you,  or  that  you  were  unable  to 
visit.  Lord  and  Lady  Castletown  were  much  pleased  with  the 
Oxford  affair. 

To  drop  down  to  my  humble  self,  I  am  sure  you  will  be  interested 
to  hear  that  some  good  priests  out  in  Australia  want  me  to  travel 
12,000  miles,  and  to  spend  the  rest  of  my  life  with  a  mitre  (far 
weightier  in  every  way  than  your  wig)  governing  an  immense 
diocese  under  a  tropical  sun.  Of  course,  Rome  is  too  wise  to  listen 
to  such  a  suggestion;  and  I  have  been  selfish  enough  to  use  all  the 
machinery  I  could  avail  of,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  such  a 
thing.  So  I  take  it  as  a  pretty  French  compliment  and  nothing 
more.     But  these  are  the  little  accidents  of  life. 

I  do  hope  that  the  Centenary  celebration  of  your  revered  father 
will  be  the  success  every  lover  of  his  books  and  gentle  character 
expects. 

The  leaves  are  beginning  to  turn  here;  and  our  Indian  summer  is 
commencing.     I  suppose  you  will  soon  be  in  the  Forum  again. 

Always  most  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

If  at  any  time  in  his  life  Canon  Sheehan  had  been  actuated 
by  ambition  to  attain  prominence,  that  feeling  had  gradually 


Chap.  XIV]         PROPOSED   FOR  A   BISHOPRIC         255 

given  way  to  the  altruistic  desire  of  service.  He  gauged 
what  men  call  promotion  in  the  ecclesiastical  life  by  its 
enlarged  opportunities  to  do  better  work,  to  use  all  one's 
available  resources  of  intellect  and  general  training  for  the 
apostolic  ministry.  Honors  might  be  to  a  priest  a  fresh 
incentive  to  effort;  but  as  a  reward  he  hardly  regarded  it 
at  all.  "Dominus  pars  hereditatis  meae"  was  the  standard 
by  which  he  estimated  the  value  of  his  pastoral  office. 
For  the  rest,  that  ministry  was  meant  to  be  one  of  labor  and 
sacrifice,  a  cross  to  be  carried  to  the  hilltop  of  Calvary, 
beyond  which  the  angel  would  point  the  way  to  the  glory 
of  the  resurrection  with  Christ,  the  Master  and  Model 
of  every  true  priest. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  this  time  he  was  fully 
possessed  by  the  thought  of  death,  though  a  casual  visitor 
would  have  hardly  realized  it.  He  did  not  cease  to  work; 
for  labor  was  part  of  the  program  of  his  preparation  for 
death. 


XV 

LAST   BOOKS 

CANON  SHEEHAN'S  next  book  was  The  Queens 
Fillet.  It  is  a  romance  cast  in  the  tragic  days  of 
the  French  Revolution  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Its  underlying  aim  was,  of  course,  to  apply  to 
Ireland  the  lessons  of  that  mad  conflict  of  an  oppressed 
people,  and  to  warn  against  such  excesses  as  political  up- 
risings without  order  and  competent  leadership  bring  in 
their  wake.  The  story  takes  its  title  from  the  fillet  worn 
by  Marie  Antoinette  at  the  time  of  her  beheading.  This 
fillet  or  head-band  taken  from  her  by  the  executioner  was 
afterward  sold  to  a  French  noble,  Maurice  de  Brignon, 
and  became  the  ransom  of  Adele  de  Brignon,  who  had  been 
arrested  on  suspicion  of  conspiracy  against  Louis  XVIII. 
A  prominent  figure  in  the  story  is  that  of  the  abbot  of 
St.  Marcellin,  who  acts  as  the  disinterested  liberator.  The 
persons,  historic  events,  and  scenery  lend  themselves  admi- 
rably to  Canon  Sheehan's  particular  gift  of  description,  and 
he  is  thoroughly  successful  in  his  appeal  to  the  moral  sense 
of  a  liberty-loving  people.  There  are  however  in  the 
narrative  noticeable  defects  of  historical  perspective,  and 
inaccuracies  in  the  delineations  of  such  characters  as  Talley- 
rand. On  the  other  hand,  the  beauty  of  Canon  Sheehan's 
natural  style  reveals  itself  in  the  description  of  men  of 
heroic  temperaments,  like  Andre  Chenier.  The  critical 
reader  cannot  escape  the  suspicion  that  the  author  here 
simply  put  in  orderly  sequence,  and  without  attention  to 
detail,  the  material  which  had  been  partly  elaborated  by 
him  at  an  earlier  period;  and  that  he  found  himself  handi- 
capped in  giving  a  finish  to  the  whole  by  the  distractions  of 
pain  attending  the  last  years  of  his  life.  He  felt  in  a  sense 
under  obligation  to  the  public,  and  was  anxious  to  respond 

256 


Chap.  XV]  LAST   BOOKS  257 

to  their  expectations.  Moreover  he  wanted  to  keep  work- 
ing, if  possible,  to  the  end;  and  as  he  was  unable  to  fulfil 
all  of  his  usual  pastoral  duties,  he  tried  to  make  up  for  it 
at  his  desk.  Altogether  the  volume  was  well  received  by 
the  general  pubhc,  as  he  writes: 

DONERAILE,   Aug.    29,    I9II. 

Dear  Father  Russell, 

Many  thanks  for  special  copy  of  the  /.  Monthly,  for  your  own 
gracious  critique,  and  for  the  extracts  of  notices  from  the  reviewer. 
They  have  all  been  singularly,  I  might  say,  surprisingly  favour- 
able; and  the  Americans  are  even  more  generous  than  the  English. 
In  a  fortnight  after  publication,  1500  copies  of  the  six-shilling 
Edition,  and  iioo  copies  of  the  Colonial  Edition  had  been  sold, 
so  everything  looks  well  for  the  book. 

I  dare  say  Hilaire  Belloc  will  differ  from  the  estimate  of  the  lead- 
ing characters.  I  think  he  adopts  the  Carlylean  view  that  the 
Revolution  was  "a  truth  clad  in  hell-fire";  and  this  is  partly 
correct.  But  how,  under  any  circumstances,  its  excesses  can  be 
condoned  is  to  me  inexplicable. 

I  think  I  have  been  fairly  impartial  all  round.  I  have  not 
spared  the  noblesse,  nor  the  Jacobin,  nor  the  Bourbon,  in  trying 
to  exemplify  my  two  favourite  theories: 

(a)  That  injustice  begets  injustice; 

(b)  That   fear   has   been    the   cause  of  the  world's   greatest 

crimes.  .,  .  , 

Always  smcerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 

For  obvious  reasons  the  Canon  particularly  appreciated 
the  favorable  critique  of  his  friend  Wilham  O'Brien,  who 
wrote : 

My  dear  Canon  Patrick, 

It  was  only  yesterday  I  could  find  leisure  hours  (and  pleasure 
hours)  for  the  perusal  of  "The  Queen's  Fillet."  It  is  amazing 
how  prolific  your  mind  is  in  a  half  dozen  worlds  of  study,  any  one 
of  which  would  be  enough  for  the  normal  literary  life.  The  new 
book  abounds  in  noble  romance  and  has  something  of  the  strength 
of  the  Revolution  it  describes. 

In  most  other  things  our  aspirations  go  in  the  same  direction; 
but  I  am  much  more  willing  to  give  you  "the  key  of  my  soul"  on 


258       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

German  than  on  French  matters.  No  doubt  many  of  the  French 
nobles  did  well  —  as  bravely  did  the  Girondins  —  but  I  am  satisfied 
the  more  deeply  you  study  those  views  the  more  certain  you  are 
to  be  convinced  that  Louis  Sixteenth  and  his  worshippers  were  — 
in  the  highest  sense  —  a  poor  lot,  and  that  the  people  were  not 
much  happier  in  many  of  their  champions,  and  that  for  all  the 
horrors  that  darkened  the  lustre  of  the  Revolution's  wonderful 
releasements  for  the  down-trodden  people,  the  peoples'  stupid, 
selfish  and  brutal  monsters  were  chiefly  answerable. 

Believe  me,  the  French  race  for  all  its  faults  have  still  a  magnifi- 
cent reserve  of  power  over  the  world's  future  and  that  the  irre- 
ligion  which  is  its  one  great  fault,  is  simply  another  side  of  the 
religion,  wrong  side  out  —  which  surely  might  have  persevered, 
and  may  even  still  persevere,  to  be  the  greatest  force  in  the  exercise 
of  Christianity.  However,  I  am  sure  it  would  take  many  long 
and  perhaps  animated  discourses  by  your  friends  in  Doneraile  to 
induce  you  to  lessen  the  signal  tribute  your  book  pays  to  a  Royal 
Cause  which  in  death  has  ten  thousand  charms  for  every  fervent 
worshipper  of  Chivalry  and  Nobility  and  of  those  glorious  views 
which  apotheosised  Versailles  but  made  the  Revolution  an  in- 
evitable Nemesis. 

All  the  same,  I  am  sure  that  in  the  Elysian  Fields  the  Queen  and 
her  brilliant  Court  will  feel  a  pang  of  pride,  that  they  should  still 
be  celebrated  so  charmingly  by  a  pen  like  yours. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  C.  Patrick, 
With  every  aflFect.  good  wish, 

Your  old  friend, 
Wm.  O'Brien. 

In  a  letter  to  Father  Russell,  of  November  28,  191 1, 
the  author  again  speaks  of  the  criticism  called  forth  by  his 
book.  He  notes  that  it  was  on  the  whole  favorable,  but  that 
the  non-Catholic  press  seemed  to  be  more  generous  toward 
him  than  his  brethren  of  the  faith.  At  the  end  of  the  letter 
he  writes:  "I  have  a  new  novel  completed;  it  deals  with 
Socialism  in  Ireland  and  many  other  matters;  but  I  am 
holding  it  in  reserve."  The  volume  was  no  doubt  The 
Graves  at  Kilmorna.  It  was  not  to  be  published  for  some 
years  to  come,  after  the  author  had  passed  from  the  scene 
of  earthly  criticism. 


Chap.  XV]  LAST   BOOKS  259 

"the   graves   at  kilmorna" 

It  is  a  story  of  the  rise  and  suppression  of  the  Fenian 
insurrection  in  1867.  Two  local  heroes  form  the  central 
figures  of  the  action.  Both  are  earnest  lovers  of  their 
country,  men  of  swift  impulses,  native  determination,  and 
noble  aspirations.  In  the  actual  struggle  they  are  defeated, 
partly  through  treachery,  partly  through  lack  of  sufficient 
foresight.  One,  James  Halpin,  is  killed  in  a  brief  encounter 
between  his  men  and  the  EngHsh  constabulary;  the  other, 
having  been  convicted  of  treason  against  the  English  govern- 
ment, is  sentenced  to  hard  labor  for  Hfe  in  the  Dartmoor 
prison.  After  ten  years  of  durance  vile  he  is  released. 
On  his  return  home  he  encounters  some  drunken  townsmen 
cheering  for  the  successful  Tory  candidate  at  an  election. 
Taught  by  his  own  former  experience,  he  peaceably  warns 
them  against  their  pretended  friend  and  meets  with  a  tragic 
death  at  the  hands  of  his  fellow  countrymen. 

The  novel  ends  abruptly,  and  leaves  the  reader  under 
a  sense  of  hopelessness  for  the  cause  of  Irish  emancipation. 
On  this  account  some  critics  have  pronounced  the  story 
to  be  pessimistic  in  tendency.  Events  since  then  have 
demonstrated  how  accurate  was  the  diagnosis  which  Canon 
Sheehan  had  made  of  the  poHtical  agitation  in  Ireland. 
If  he  had  no  faith  in  the  optimistic  promises  that  had  for  so 
long  delayed  a  freedom  for  which  his  people  had  made 
every  conceivable  sacrifice,  it  was  not  that  he  lacked  either 
confidence  in  the  better  element  of  Irish  patriots,  or  deep 
and  abiding  interest  in  his  people's  welfare.  On  the  con- 
trary, no  man  was  more  anxious  to  see  Ireland  governing 
herself.  We  shall  see  that,  so  far  as  his  influence  reached, 
he  steered  the  national  spirit  toward  a  right  and  safe  course, 
especially  by  his  proposal  of  educational  and  economic 
reforms.  Nor  were  these  eflPorts  merely  speculative.  He 
took  a  personal  part  in  the  struggle,  and  within  the  circle 
of  his  immediate  operations  brought  about  actual  benefits 
by  the  measures  he  advocated.  It  was  he  who  negotiated 
with  the  landlords  for  the  purchase  of  the  properties  which 


26o       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

the  tenants  in  his  district  had  been  holding  under  rent.  He 
thoroughly  and  permanently  improved,  as  we  shall  see  in 
a  later  chapter,  the  industrial,  educational,  and  economic 
conditions  of  his  own  people,  a  fact  recognized  by  the 
town  council  and  the  district  authorities  who  have  paid 
the  tribute  of  pubHc  honors  to  him,  the  leader  of  the  com- 
munity, quite  apart  from  his  caHing  as  priest  and  pastor. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  also  that  the  chief  part  of  The 
Graves  at  Kilmorna  is  not  fiction  but  fact.  In  the  earlier 
part  of  this  biography  certain  incidents  are  related  of 
young  Patrick  Sheehan's  college  days  which  are  hterally 
reproduced  in  his  last  novel.  In  truth,  nearly  all  the  scenes 
and  characters  of  the  story  embody  the  author's  personal 
recollections.  The  town  of  Kilmorna  is  no  other  than  the 
town  of  his  birth,  Mallow  by  the  Blackwater;  the  incidents 
of  the  Fenian  rising  are  those  he  had  witnessed  while  a 
student  of  St.  Colman's  College.  The  two  or  three  priests 
he  mentions  are  drawn  from  actual  life.  The  young  Devon- 
shire curate  who  visits  Dartmoor  prison  is  himself.  Myles 
Cogan  is  the  hero  whom  some  years  later  during  his  tem- 
porary chaplaincy  in  the  prison  he  recognizes  among  the 
chain-gang.  Agnes,  Cogan's  sister,  who  becomes  a  nun, 
and  Mary  Carleton,  who  causes  his  arrest  in  order  to  save 
him  from  death  in  an  attack  by  the  volunteers  which  she 
foresees  to  be  futile  and  fatal  —  all  these  are  persons  who 
have  figured  in  the  life  of  our  author.  And  so  are  the 
wrongs  he  portrays  and  the  sorrows  that  consumed  him 
when  he  realized  that  his  people  were  being  misguided 
by  the  fomenting  of  enemies  on  the  one  side,  and  by  the 
fanatical  zeal  and  sometimes  treachery  of  compatriots  on 
the  other. 

Canon  Sheehan,  like  most  poetic  characters  of  his  type, 
had  something  of  the  prophet  in  his  nature.  He  warns 
against  the  danger  of  an  overweening  confidence  in  the  value 
of  mere  promise  and  applause.  But  he  is  none  the  less 
a  sincere  forerunner  of  the  true  liberator.  Only  those  who 
are  blind  to  facts  can  fail  to  reaHze  his  deep  and  ardent 
patriotism,  his  high-minded  desire  to  preserve  his  people's 


Chap.  XV]  LAST   BOOKS  261 

faith  and  virtue,  on  which  to  build  a  safe  future  and  a  last- 
ing prosperity  for  Ireland.  Indeed,  affection  for  his  race, 
above  family  and  party,  is  the  chief  characteristic  of  this. 
Canon  Sheehan's  last  book.  Had  not  his  vision  been  so 
sure,  doubtless  he  would  have  added  to  this  his  swan-song 
the  final  note  of  hopefulness  in  the  immediate  resurgence 
of  his  people. 

A  few  critics  of  The  Graves  at  Kilmorna  thought  his  account 
exaggerated  as  well  as  discouraging.  But  the  majority 
recognized  its  author's  penetration  and  honesty.  "However 
we  may  disagree  with  his  reading  of  history,"  writes  the 
(London)  Saturday  Review,  "we  cannot  deny  his  power, 
or  his  burning  sincerity.  .  .  Mr.  Sheehan  has  written  a 
stirring  book  and  has  written  it  with  a  true  art  that  despises 
exaggeration  or  distortion  of  facts.  Certain  it  is  that  Ire- 
land of  the  'sixties  produced  fine  spirits,  men  who  pas- 
sionately died  for  what  they  believed  their  country's  good. 
Are  they  forgotten?  Mr.  Sheehan's  book  seems  to  recall 
those  wonderful  words  of  the  prophet  of  old:  Come  from 
the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and  make  these  dry  bones  live!" 
The  same  writer  quotes  the  words  of  one  of  the  characters 
in  the  novel,  which  offset  the  misty  sadness  of  the  prophecy: 
*'  Be  of  good  cheer;  there  is  an  angel  watching  over  Ireland," 
and  asks:  "Is  there?  we  wonder.  These  people  are  a 
peculiar  people.  The  mystery  of  the  true  Celt  hangs  about 
them,  nor  will  it  ever  be  totally  extinguished.  Their  past 
is  a  past  when  kings  sat  in  their  halls,  and  listened  to  the 
ancient  sagas  sung  by  her  long-bearded  bards,  or  of  the 
splendid  deeds  told  by  her  Seannachies;  —  an  Ireland, 
sea-girt  and  green,  with  an  eternal  chant  rising  to  heaven 
from  the  old  abbeys  with  their  vast  choirs  of  monks.  And 
then  later  an  Ireland  where  the  shadow  of  hunger  and  want 
hovers  over  the  people,  and  where  her  dreams  are  night- 
mares of  scaffold  and  prison.  And  through  it  all  from  time 
to  time  the  blood  of  the  martyr-patriot  calls  to  heaven." 

Another  reviewer,  from  far-away  Australia,  sees  in  this 
book  not  merely  a  valuable  addition  to  the  most  recent 
Anglo-Irish  literature,  which  holds  the  interest  as  fiction  and 


262       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

the  attention  of  the  discerning  student  as  a  worthy  contri- 
bution to  national  history,  but  also  a  most  truly  prophetic 
utterance.  It  cites  the  author's  own  words:  "As  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  the  saints,  so  the  blood  of 
the  patriot  is  the  sacred  seed  from  which  alone  can  spring 
new  forces  and  fresh  life  into  a  nation  that  is  drifting  toward 
decay."  And  then  adds  the  reflection  that,  had  Canon 
Sheehan  lived  but  a  short  time  longer,  he  would  have  seen 
in  the  flesh  that  "none  of  his  warning  was  written  in  vain  — 
none." 

We  have  then  in  this  study  a  shadow  picture;  and  whilst 
it  is  a  true  one,  it  is  not  necessarily  one  of  despair.  It  is 
indeed  realistic,  and  its  intense  feeling  conveys  a  cry  of 
distress  and  of  warning.  As  such  the  note  of  optimism  has 
no  place  in  it.  This  must  be  taken  into  account  even  when 
we  regard  it  as  a  purely  literary  production.  It  is  a  story, 
tender  and  tragic,  penetrated  through  and  through  with 
an  impassioned  devotion  to  the  motherland  that  consumes 
the  Irish  heart  and  leaves  behind  it  the  feeling  of  distressing 
doubt.  Perhaps  on  this  account  it  is  not  always  easy  read- 
ing, as  a  critic  in  the  New  York  Times  observes.  "But  it  is 
reading  well  worth  while,  preeminently  to  the  Irishman: 
almost  equally  to  the  lover  of  good  literature,  and  to  the 
thoughtful  observer  of  our  national  trend  and  tendencies." 


XVI 

LITERARY    METHODS 

TO  form  a  just  estimate  of  Canon  Sheehan's  literary 
activity  it  is  necessary  to  know  something  regard- 
ing his  method  of  working.  He  had  cultivated  the 
habit  of  writing  from  the  days  when  he  was  a  curate  at 
Mallow.  As  time  went  on  he  came  to  regard  it  as  a  mere 
recreation.  Occasionally,  it  is  true,  he  had  worked  over  his 
compositions  under  a  sort  of  compulsion,  on  moral  grounds. 
That  was  after  his  name  had  been  heralded  as  the  author 
of  My  New  Curate.  His  readers  wanted  more,  and  he  felt 
obliged  to  satisfy  a  craving  that  had  been  productive  of 
such  excellent  results.  This  sense  of  obligation  arose  not  so 
much  from  the  fact  that  he  had  become  popular  as  a  writer 
as  that  he  had  been  successful  in  creating  a  taste  for  a  cer- 
tain form  of  fiction  at  once  new  and  entertaining,  spiritual 
and  national.  He  felt  elated  at  the  thought  that  through 
the  clergy,  who  were  leaders  in  their  respective  sphere,  he 
was  preaching  a  gospel  for  the  benefit  of  Ireland  and  the 
Church.  The  idea  of  doing  good  to  the  younger  generation 
of  priests  who  were  now  reading  his  books  stimulated  him 
to  continue  in  the  same  direction. 

During  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  he  spent  as  a  rule  two 
hours  each  day  at  his  desk,  or  at  a  little  table  in  his  garden. 
That  was  after  he  had  made  his  daily  pastoral  rounds. 
He  rarely  visited  socially,  and  he  was  not  often  called  away 
from  home,  for  it  was  well  understood  that  he  avoided  public 
engagements  when  they  did  not  come  to  him  directly  from 
his  superiors. 

The  plots  of  his  stories  he  wove  together  without  effort; 
they  developed  spontaneously.  He  had,  as  Father  Phelan 
has  expressed  it,  "a  mind  that  absorbed  facts,  stories  and 
impressions    like    a    blotting-pad."     He   never   labored    at 

263 


264         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  II 

composition.  If  a  situation  which  he  had  created  did  not 
readily  come  to  an  issue,  he  dropped  it  for  a  time,  took 
up  another  novel,  or  a  different  book  on  which  he  was  simul- 
taneously engaged,  and  waited  the  inspiration  that  would 
solve  the  difficulty. 

The  explanation  of  the  ease  and  grace  with  which  he  was 
able  to  coordinate  his  thoughts  and  impressions  lay,  no 
doubt,  in  the  fact  that  his  hfe  was  molded  by  a  purpose 
that  was  as  definite  as  it  was  ever  conscious.  He  was  a 
searcher  who  collected  facts,  made  observations,  and  utilized 
every  incident  and  experience  as  material  for  the  com- 
pleting of  a  plan  or  scheme  that  possessed  his  mind.  The 
scientific  arrangement  of  the  structure  to  be  raised  by  him 
was  constantly  before  him.  He  had  drawn  it  out  in  well- 
calculated  detail  during  the  earlier  years  of  his  life.  And 
now  he  was  spending  the  rest  of  his  days  in  putting  the  ma- 
terial to  good  use.  Everything  he  saw  —  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  the  stones  of  the  quarries,  plants,  minerals,  animals, 
in  short  the  wonders  of  earth  and  sea,  the  sunlight  and  stars 
above,  men,  the  child,  the  adult,  served  his  purpose;  all 
these  would  fit  into  his  scheme  of  construction,  ornament, 
coloring,  refining,  and  illuminating.  Hence  he  wrote  with 
wonderful  rapidity,  yet  with  the  most  poiseful  dehberation. 
Chapter  after  chapter  of  his  manuscript  shows  hardly  any 
erasure  or  change. 

Whilst  he  had  great  facility  in  expression,  he  seemed  to 
care  little  for  technique.  Hence  he  rarely  changed  a  word 
unless  some  afterthought  made  him  feel  that  the  sentiment 
expressed  might  wound  the  susceptibilities  of  his  readers; 
or  unless  someone  suggested  the  possibility  of  misunder- 
standing. I  doubt  whether  he  ever  revised  or  reread  what 
he  had  written  currente  calamo.  His  was  an  exceptionally 
clear  handwriting,  and  his  letters  down  to  his  death  maintain 
the  same  round  and  beautiful  caligraphy.  All  of  this  was 
natural  to  him;  and  I  believe  his  exquisite  handwriting 
is  an  indication  of  how  little  trouble  his  thought-arrange- 
ment or  the  refining  of  his  imagery  cost  him.  In  one  of 
his  letters  to  Father  Russell  he  speaks  of  handwriting  in 


Chap.  XVI]  LITERARY  METHODS  265 

letters,  and  holds  that  a  correspondent  is  bound  to  take 
as  much  pains  to  write  legibly  as  he  is  to  speak  audibly  and 
in  good  form  when  addressing  a  lady  or  gentlemen. 

While  he  was  writing  in  turn  Miriam  Lucas,  The  Intel- 
lectuals, and  The  Queens  Fillet,  he  gathered  into  a  volume 
also  the  earlier  Essays  and  Lectures  that  had  been  scattered 
in  various  magazines,  already  referred  to.  These  were 
published  in  1906.  He  likewise  assembled  and  completed, 
at  odd  intervals,  the  notes  and  observations  which  later 
on  were  published  under  the  title  Parerga,  and  which 
supplement  or  parallel  the  earlier  series  of  Under  the  Cedars 
and  the  Stars.  Both  of  these  volumes  embody  in  brief 
paragraphs  snatches  of  philosophy,  science,  ethics,  theology, 
history,  art,  poetry,  travel,  and  reverie;  and  they  give  us 
some  idea  of  the  wide  range  of  the  author's  reading  and 
observation.  The  material  is  so  combined  and  proportioned 
as  to  become  a  sort  of  panacea  for  mental  lethargy  after 
serious  labor,  a  tonic  both  pleasant  to  the  taste  and  invigo- 
rating to  the  constitution  that  can  assimilate  it. 

Shortly  after  Parerga  had  appeared  in  England  he  writes 
to  Father  Russell: 

DONERAILE   Co.    CoRK, 

Jpril  27,  1908. 

Dear  Fr.  Russell, 

I  feel  that  I  must  thank  you  for  the  excellent  notice  of  Parerga 
in  the  May  Monthly;  and  also  for  the  copy  of  Book  Notes  which 
you  so  kindly  sent  me.  I  think  it  is  almost  the  first  time  that 
Mr.  B.  has  said  a  kind  thing  about  my  books. 

I  had  some  scruples  in  writing  at  all  about  Shelley;  lest  I  shd. 
be  supposed  to  ignore  his  grave  faults  of  character.  But  I  have 
always  regarded  him  as  the  "Mad  Shelley"  of  Eton  and  Oxford; 
and  then,  he  had  some  fine  qualities  of  mind  and  heart.  I  think 
it  is  almost  certain  that,  if  he  had  lived,  he  would  have  come  around 
to  the  Church.  The  real  beauty  of  Christianity,  distorted  and 
obscured  by  early  education,  was  beginning  to  break  on  him. 

I  have  no  scruple  about  anything  I  have  said  of  Shakspeare. 
I  hardly  ever  like  him.     I  sometimes  loathe  him. 

Ever  sincerely, 
P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.p. 


266         CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE    [Part  II 

What  other  friendly  critics  thought  of  it  is  well  expressed 
in  the  following  letter  from  WilHam  O'Brien,  M.P.: 

May   I2th,  1908. 

I  have  spent  four  or  five  charming  evenings  by  the  fireside, 
enjoying  the  rich,  if  often  sad,  philosophy  of  your  new  work. 
There  is  so  much  in  it,  including  the  experiences,  which  reflects  in 
a  more  erudite  way  my  own  view  of  life.  Where  any  ground  for 
sadness  should  come  in  in  a  life  like  yours,  which  has  all  the  charms 
of  the  cloister,  of  the  library  and  of  a  scholar's  little  rural  world, 
in  whose  happiness  you  count  for  so  much,  would  be  utterly  puz- 
zling to  me,  and  I  dare  say  the  fact  that  life  (and  especially  public 
life)  suggests  so  many  tragic  reflections  to  myself,  who  have 
a  private  grief  to  sadden  me,  is  an  equal  puzzle  to  you.  It  is  a 
common  fate  in  a  world  "where  but  to  think  is  to  be  full  of  sorrow 
and  leaden-hued  despair."  Happily  the  brain  which  can  be  such 
an  instrument  of  torture  can  soften  its  own  casualties  (especially 
within  the  spiritual  region  in  which  your  thoughts  must  so  con- 
tinually lie).  Under  the  very  best  and  happiest  condition,  material 
life  is  wholly  incapable  of  satisfying  us. 


XVII 

ECHOES  FROM  FOREIGN  LANDS 

WHILST  Geoffrey  Austin,  on  account  of  the  edu- 
cational principles  which  it  advocated,  had  found 
at  once  an  applauding  circle  of  readers  among 
certain  isolated  classes  abroad,  it  was  not  until  My  New 
Curate  had  appeared  that  the  Catholic  reading  pubHc  in 
general  awoke  to  the  excellence  of  the  Irish  priest's  literary 
powers. 

The  "Feuilleton"  of  the  Cologne  Folkszeitiing  was  the 
first  to  bring  out  a  serial  translation  of  the  novel.  In 
Austria  the  Gral  printed  extracts,  and  the  Gral-Bund,  a 
society  of  leading  Catholic  writers,  arranged  with  the 
author  to  have  translations  printed  of  extracts,  such  as  the 
story  of  "Alice,"  etc.,  for  popular  distribution. 

Later  on,  when  the  distinctively  national  character  of 
Canon  Sheehan's  books  began  to  attract  the  attention  of 
literary  students,  his  works  were  made  the  subject  of  lec- 
tures in  the  University  courses,  and  a  lady  student  at 
Munster  asked  the  Canon's  leave  to  make  the  pecuhari- 
ties  of  Irish  humor  as  illustrated  by  his  works  the  subject 
of  a  dissertation  for  obtaining  her  doctorate  in  Letters. 
In  the  German  seminaries  the  clerical  novels  were  being 
read  at  conferences,  and  at  the  dinner  table  of  religious 
communities. 

Almost  simultaneously  the  French  papers  and  magazines 
began  to  extol  Canon  Sheehan's  writings.  An  authorized 
translation  of  My  New  Curate,  and  subsequently  of  several 
other  stories,  was  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  Abbe 
Georges  Ardant,  editor  of  La  Semaine  Religieuse  {La  Croix) 
of  Limoges,  by  the  Paris  firm  of  Charles  Amat  (subsequently 
transferred  to  the  firm  of  P.  Lethielleux).  The  actual 
translator  of  these,  including,  besides  Mon  Nouveau  Vicaire, 
(1900),  Chez  les  Anglo-Saxons,  Geoffrey  Austin  (1904),  Le  Suc- 

267 


268       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  II 

ces  dans  VEchec  (1906),  and  Ange  egar'e  d'un  Paradis  perdu, 
was  the  American  Sulpician,  Father  Joseph  Bruneau,  of 
Baltimore.  A  prominent  critic  and  writer  on  social  science, 
member  of  the  National  Chamber  for  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
Dr.  Joseph  Brom,  wrote  in  unqualified  praise  of  the  French 
version  of  My  New  Curate.  Under  the  title  of  "Le  Jour- 
nal Humoristique  d'un  Vieux  Cure"  he  reviewed  it  as  being 
in  no  way  inferior  to  the  best  work  of  Yves  de  Querdec 
(Georges  Fonsegrive),  the  famous  editor  of  La  ^uinzaine, 
to  whom  in  fact  the  translation  was  dedicated.  Another 
writer  sums  up  the  general  verdict  of  the  French  press  by 
saying  of  the  author  of  Mon  Nouveau  Ficaire,  "C'est  evi- 
demment  un  styliste  de  premiere  force,  un  ecrivain  merveil- 
leux,  un  fin  psychologue,  un  artiste,"  to  which  eulogium  a 
clerical  commentator  adds:  "Une  ame  sacerdotale  et 
apostolique." 

Indeed  it  is  this  latter  mark  of  priest  and  apostle  that 
has  appealed  to  a  large  number  of  the  Canon's  readers  as 
much  as  his  literary  genius.  Among  the  many  touching 
expressions  of  gratitude  that  came  to  the  Canon  through 
his  writings  were  those  of  the  Comtesse  Costa  de  Beau- 
regard. She  mentions  an  experience  with  her  children's 
nurse,  an  English  girl  "with  a  drop  of  Irish  blood  in  her." 
The  young  woman  was  in  the  habit  of  complaining  that 
"church  gave  her  a  headache"  and  "French  sermons  made 
her  feel  faint,"  etc.  "  I  gave  her  your  book,  with  the  feeling, 
I  confess,  that  it  was  above  her  head.  The  next  day  I 
found  she  had  spent  the  night  over  the  volume  —  she  asked 
to  go  to  confession  —  and  has  been  quite  another  woman 
ever  since.  She  worships  Father  Sheehan."  At  another 
time  she  writes  of  Geoffrey  Austin  and  The  Triumph  of 
Failure:  "They  are  Sursum  corda  and  have  been  a  feast 
to  me.  .  .  .  Some  of  your  thoughts  have  struck  me  like 
lightning  .  .  .  that  about  Renan.  .  .  .  Unhappily  I  am  no 
scholar  and  much  in  your  book  is  over  my  head.  I  never 
could  understand  what  the  'Kampaner  Thai'  was,  though 
I  have  read  lots  of  German."  Regarding  Luke  Delmege 
the  same  lady  writes: 


Chap.  XVII]  ECHOES    FROM    FOREIGN   LANDS      269 

Chateau  de  Beauregard-Douvaine, 
Hte.  Savoie,  France. 

Reverend  Father, 

...  I  have  been  reading,  re-reading,  and  meditating  the  book 
{Luke  Delmege)  ever  since  a  year  or  so  ago.  ...  I  really  feel  I 
am  "feeding  on  the  marrow  of  the  giants."  It  is  so  good  to  be 
conscious  of  a  strong  hand  helping  us  along  the  weary  path,  that 
I  must  thank  you  again  and  again  for  all  the  good  grain  you  are 
sowing.  Just  now  I  am  trying  to  see  if  "Luke"  could  not  be  trans- 
lated into  French.  We  want  that  sort  of  book  very  much,  and 
never  get  it;  and  it  is  a  pity.  I  have  two  sons  who  will  soon  be 
old  enough  to  understand  your  beautiful  teaching;  and  they  shall 
learn  to  love  Canon  Sheehan,  and  to  read  all  that  he  has  written. 
If  that  does  not  keep  them  out  of  harm's  way,  nothing  can,  I  am 
afraid.  Allow  me  to  ask  your  blessing  for  them,  and  also  for  my 
little  girls  who  love  to  read  English,  and  will  also  later  be  your 
truest  readers. 

Believe  me,  Reverend  Father,  most  reverently, 

Ctesse  Costa  de  Beauregard. 

Whilst  these  and  similar  expressions  of  appreciation 
reached  the  Canon  from  some  of  the  best  minds  in  France, 
and  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Firmin  Roz,  author  of 
Sous  la  Couronne  d' AngleterrCy  v^ho  had  visited  Ireland 
and  as  the  friend  of  Lord  Castletown  had  met  the  pastor 
of  Doneraile,  his  books  did  not  on  the  whole  find  that 
popularity  in  France  which  they  seemed  to  deserve.  He 
assigns  a  reason  for  this  in  one  of  his  letters  to  his  friend 
Mr.  Justice  Holmes.  "My  books,"  he  writes,  "have  never 
caught  on  in  France,  because  I  have  written  somewhat 
enthusiastically  about  Germany;  but  in  the  Fatherland 
and  especially  Austria-Hungary,  these  books  are  great 
favorites," 

In  Italy  the  story  of  My  New  Curate  was  taken  up  by 
Avvocato  Angelo  Mauri  of  the  Osservatore  at  Milan,  who 
insisted  upon  the  great  good  that  the  propaganda  of  the 
Irish  Canon's  books  would  do  for  students  and  cultivated 
classes  in  Italy.  He  points  out  in  letters  and  editorials 
how  splendidly  Catholic  principles  are  emphasized  in  the 


270       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

life  of  Sheehan's  heroes.  He  repeats  what  Baron  Clemens 
von  Droste  HuelshoflF  had  said  on  behalf  of  the  German 
Catholics  —  namely,  that  Canon  Sheehan's  books  revealed 
a  magnijficent  type  of  people,  too  little  known  except  by  their 
faults.  These  faults  he  says,  are,  as  a  rule,  only  the  out- 
growth of  some  virtue  which  it  were  well  if  some  other 
nations  possessed  as  abundantly.  Thus  the  defects  which 
Canon  Sheehan  allows  in  his  characters,  such  as  clannish- 
ness,  suspicion,  or  resentment  against  "informers,"  have 
their  source  for  the  most  part  in  an  instinct  of  loyalty,  in 
deep  sympathy  and  sincerity  of  friendship,  which  is  un- 
known to  the  Anglo-Saxon  character,  with  its  sense  of 
superiority. 

There  are  many  indications  in  Father  Sheehan's  corres- 
pondence that  his  books  became  the  incentives  to  a  higher 
spiritual  life  and  in  some  instances  to  conversion  to  the 
Catholic  faith.  Occasionally  some  writers  were  trying  to 
his  nerves.  Not  infrequently  persons  asked  for  information 
on  topics  that  had  been  suggested  by  reading  his  books, 
or  they  taxed  his  sense  of  responsibility  for  accuracy.  Young 
writers  asked  for  directions  of  how  to  become  as  famous  as 
the  Canon  had  become.  Older  ones  requested  him  to  send 
them  statistics,  names  of  books,  and  all  kinds  of  information. 
They  asked  a  thousand  questions  of  every  sort,  sometimes 
implying  criticism.^ 

To  the  clerical  reader  the  Canon's  writings  were  not 
merely  an  entertaining  illustration  of  pastoral  life  but  in 
many  cases  an  incentive  to  ecclesiastical  perfection.  A 
prominent  Irish  churchman  had  said  that  if  all  the  priests 
of  the  diocese  read  My  New  Curate  and  meditated  on  its 
lessons,  "we  could  omit  the  annual  retreat."  "When  I 
was  curate  at  the  Vicar  General's  in  Toronto,"  writes  the 
author  of  Irish  Mist  and  Sunshine,  "we  used  to  take  turns 

^  A  Protestant  gentleman  who  had  greatly  enjoyed  My  New  Curate  wrote  to 
ask  for  the  sources  of  some  of  his  quotations,  ex.  gr.  whether  the  phrase  quoted  by 
Father  Sheehan  on  page  220,  "Ama  nesciri  et  pro  nihilo  reputari,"  as  St.  Bona- 
venture's,  was  borrowed  by  Thomas  a  Kempis  from  that  saint.  (The  passage 
seems  to  belong  to  St.  Bernard,  Serm.  in  Nativ.  Dom.  Ill,  n.  3.)  He  scrupulously 
answered  all  such  questions  where  he  thought  the  writer  really  desired  information. 


Chap.  XVII]     ECHOES  FROM  FOREIGN  LANDS       271 

(including  the  V.  G.)  at  reading  aloud  a  chapter  each  day 
after  dinner." 

Among  the  foreign  University  students  who  read  the 
Canon's  books,  were  some  who  expressed  in  ancient  classical 
language  their  appreciation  of  hi^  works  and  the  desire  to 
see  them  translated  into  their  own  tongue.  A  Latin  com- 
ment on  a  popular  novel  is  a  sufficiently  curious  phenomenon 
in  modern  literature  to  excuse  our  giving  one  of  several 
such  encomiums  found  among  the  Canon's  reUques. 

Treveri,  Germania,  die  Octobris,  30,  1909. 

DiLECTE  IN  Xro  Pater, 

Perpulchras  tuas  fabulas,  quibus  inscripseras  "My  New  Curate" 
et  "Luke  Delmege,"  quibusque  etiam  in  mea  patria  nominis 
gloriam  famamque  es  adeptus,  cum  legissem,  baud  parva  affectus 
curiositate  novissimam  "The  Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray,"  quam  in 
libello  periodico  "Ecclesiastical  Review"  in  publicum  nunc  tem- 
poris  edis,  legere  coepi.  Quod  novum  narrationis  genus  animo 
meo  uti  speraveram,  magnam  parat  laetitiam,  praesertim  eo  quod 
duo  supra  dicta  opera  solum  translata  in  linguam  Germanicam 
legeram.  Quae  igitur  fabula  cum  tam  bene  composita  sit,  per- 
suasum  habeo  illam  etiam  non  secus  ac  ceterae  a  te  conscriptae  in 
mea  patria  multos  inventuram  esse  amatores.  Quare  mihi  in 
mentem  venit  at  te  permissionem  petere  vertendi  eandem.  Quod 
optatum  mihi  et  libri  excellentia  necnon  meae  vitae  conditio 
inspiravit  .  .  . 

Suppliciter  ergo  peto  a  te  ne  has  meas  despicias  preces,  quibus 
concessis  non  modo  opus  Deo  pium  praestabis  et  quibus  nihil 
mihi  gratius  facere  poteris,  sed  etiam  populo  Catholico  Ger- 
maniae  quem  nunc  temporis  acerbissima  pugna  litterari  decertare 
et  tu  non  ignoras,  arte  litterari  objective  aucta  gaudium  spirituale 
praestabis. 

Benigne  mihi  respondeas,  utens,  quaeso,  lingua  Anglica,  neve 
pro  Christi  in  nos  amore  deneges  preces  meas. 

Hocce  sperans  salutat  devotissime, 

G.  B. 

Similar  expressions  of  approval  came  to  him  from  other 
countries,  mainly  from  clergymen,  some  of  whom  made  their 
pilgrimages  in  person  to  Doneraile  in  order  to  converse  with 
the   author.     It  is   needless    to   say  that    the   Canon  was 


272       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  II 

equally  familiar  with  French,  German,  and  Itahan  Hterature, 
though  he  made  no  pretense  of  fluently  speaking  or  writing 
these  languages. 

What  chiefly  drew  men  of  every  nationality,  even  those 
who  did  not  share  the  religious  convictions  of  the  parish 
priest  of  Doneraile,  to  admire  his  writings,  was  the  broad 
spirit  of  toleration  in  matters  of  opinion  and  tastes,  that 
pervaded  them,  together  with  all  kinds  of  information  that 
drew  upon  the  resources  of  every  profession.  One  of  his 
medical  friends,  while  criticizing  the  diagnosis  in  the  case 
of  the  sick  girl  in  My  New  Curate,  nevertheless  appreciated 
this  characteristic,  and  wrote  to  him:  "I  suppose  it  matters 
really  little  except  that,  as  you  seem  to  be  conversant  with 
everything,  from  the  depths  of  theology  and  philosophy 
to  the  manner  in  which  a  courtship  is  carried  on  in  a  priest's 
kitchen,  you  may  wish  to  be  also  considered  an  adept  in 
leech  craft."  It  was  this  catholicity,  as  much  as  any 
literary  excellence  in  Canon  Sheehan's  stories,  that  gained 
for  them  popularity  in  foreign  countries,  despite  the  fact 
that  the  translators  necessarily  fell  short  in  depicting  his 
exquisite  humor,  so  peculiarly  original  and  exclusively 
Celtic. 


PART  III 

PASTORAL    LIFE 


THE     PARISH    OF    DONERAILE 

THE  Story  told  of  Peter  Paul  Rubens,  while  on  a 
diplomatic  mission  to  Philip  IV  at  Madrid,  appHes 
to  Canon  Sheehan's  career  as  a  writer.  "I  see,'* 
said  the  courtier,  who  visited  the  Flemish  painter  in  the 
interests  of  the  Spanish  king,  "that  Senor  Emhajador 
amuses  himself  by  indulging  the  art  of  painting."  "No,'* 
replied  Rubens,  "it  is  Senor  Pintor  who  amuses  himself  by 
playing  emhajador. '''  The  reputation  of  the  parish  priest 
of  Doneraile  in  the  world  of  letters,  and  among  his  brother 
priests  generally,  arose  from  the  fact  that  he  had  written 
some  attractive  novels  and  scholarly  essays.  But  the 
thing  for  which  he  was  far  more  remarkable,  and  to  which 
he  attached  much  greater  value,  was  the  art  of  being  an 
excellent  parish  priest.  His  writings  were  the  merest  adjunct, 
an  accident,  however  fruitful,  of  his  priestly  calling;  much 
as  is  the  art  of  good  elocution  in  a  missionary.  He  believed 
that  the  pen  is  a  powerful  weapon  for  propagating  truth; 
and  it  is  only  in  this  light  that  he  regarded  his  calHng  as 
a  writer.  Literature  was  to  him,  the  priest,  like  voice 
culture.  It  had  no  value  unless  it  served  to  bring  men  to 
know  and  love  God  better  by  ministering  to  the  offices  of 
charity  and  instruction.  It  is  probable  that  he  would  never 
have  written  his  stories  if  he  had  not  found  the  incentive 
to  do  so  in  his  priestly  or  missionary  work. 

All  his  training  hitherto  had  led  up  to  the  exercise  of  the 
pastoral  office.  Whilst  he  had  had  abundant  opportunities 
for  observation,  and  for  sharpening  his  mental  faculties, 
the  occasions  for  applying  in  a  practical  way  the  results 
of  his  observations  were  limited  so  long  as  he  was  a  curate 
under  the  instructions  of  his  pastor. 

275 


276       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE    [Part   III 

At  Doneraile  he  could  do  as  he  thought  best;  he  could 
try  his  schemes  without  either  seriously  endangering  the 
good  of  the  souls  confided  to  his  care,  or  running  counter 
to  what  his  superiors  might  deem  the  wiser  and  more 
efficient  methods  of  administration. 

To  understand  Father  Sheehan's  activity  under  these 
circumstances  we  must  take  a  brief  survey  of  the  parish 
in  which  it  was  his  vocation  to  labor.  It  is  worth  while, 
too,  to  get  a  closer  glimpse  of  Doneraile,  its  traditions  and 
surroundings,  not  only  because  these  explain  many  things 
in  the  life  of  the  man  whom  we  are  studying,  but  also  because 
the  little  town  is  in  all  likelihood  destined  to  become  the 
center  of  attraction  for  admirers  of  the  writer  of  My  New 
Curate.  During  the  last  ten  years  of  his  residence  there  nu- 
merous visitors  found  their  way  to  the  little  parsonage,  de- 
spite his  care  to  safeguard  his  seclusion,  and  the  fact  that 
it  was  remote  from  the  railway  and  not  easy  of  access.  In 
sooth,  the  little  town  is  likely  to  grow  in  celebrity  when  Ire- 
land has  found  its  normal  status,  and  can  remember  the 
man,  the  priest  and  writer,  who  honored  the  Irish  name 
abroad,  besides  lavishing  his  generous  services  on  his  country- 
men at  home. 

THE     STORY    OF    DONERAILE 

Doneraile  Parish  consists  of  the  town  of  Doneraile  and 
the  district  surrounding  it.  There  is  a  record  of  the  Ecclesia 
de  Dunrayl,  the  Ecclesia  de  Russath,  Vmr.,  and  the  Capella 
de  Closdufog  comprised  in  its  ancient  boundaries,  which 
bears  the  date  a.d.  1291.  Before  that  date  the  name  was 
Byhloxe  towne  (in  the  Book  of  Lismore  it  is  Dunairaill, 
signifying  "Fort  of  the  ClifF").  The  Church  Registers  at 
the  end  of  the  reign  of  James  II  contain  the  reports  of  the 
government  inspectors,  giving  lists  of  the  parish  priests  of 
Doneraile  after  1688.  Side  by  side  with  these  dates  we  have 
the  official  reports  of  the  "Church  of  Ireland,"  beginning 
in  1 591.  These  latter  are  interesting  documents  for  the 
church  historian,  inasmuch  as  they  blandly  inform  him  that 
"Prior  Bothon"  of  the  Reformation  in  Ireland,  "est  rector 


Chap.  I]        THE   PARISH  OF  DONERAILE  277 

et  usurpat  {sic)  utramque  vicariam  Ecclesiae  de  Cloisdoick 
et  Ecclesiae  de  Donnerall."  Twenty-five  years  later  (a.d. 
161 5)  we  have  the  significant  testimony  that  a  soldier  had 
usurped  the  vicariate:  "Donerayle,  Rossedock,  Rossagh  ^ 
rectoriae  impropriatae.  Joh'es  Jepson,  miles,  tenet  rec- 
torias  et  usurpat  vicarias.  Val.  12  Li.  per  Ann.  —  Ecclesia 
et  cancella  ruinantur."  Then  follow  the  names  of  four 
other  worthies  who  governed  the  parish  (Protestant  popu- 
lation, 250)  until  1693,  when  "Under  the  Estabhshment 
Doneraile  was  held  with  Templeroan." 

Among  the  Cathohc  priests  whose  ministry  appears  to 
have  been  recognized  by  the  civil  authorities  about  this 
time,  we  find: 

"Rev.  Tighe  Daly,  1688-1707,  registered,  aged  68,  Parish 
priest  of  Doneraile,  Cahirdoogane,  and  Templeruan.  He  received 
Popish  orders  1669  at  Roane  (Rouen)  in  France,  from  Arch- 
bishop of  Roane  [Rouen].  Residence  —  Carker.  Sureties,  Arthur 
O'KeefFe,  Ballymohill,  £50;    Godfrey  Daly,  Carker,  £50." 

"Rev.  Owen  O'KeefFe,  1707-1726,  Poet  Priest  CVd.  Poetry  and 
Legendary  Ballads,  South  of  Ireland,  Cork:  Guy  and  Co.[]  like 
his  namesake,  John  O'KeefFe,  the  dramatist,  possessed  the  most 
varied  and  versatile  powers.  He  was  born  at  Glenville,  Co. 
Cork,  in  the  year  1656.  He  married  early  and  had  a  son,  whom  he 
reared  for  the  priesthood  but  who  died  in  1709,  at  Rochelle,  France, 
in  the  flower  of  his  youth,  whilst  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
theological  studies.  Owen,  the  father,  entered  Holy  Orders  after 
the  decease  of  his  wife  in  1707,  and  closed  his  life  on  the  fifth  day 
of  April,  1726,  as  P.P.  of  Doneraile.  His  remains  are  interred  in 
the  graveyard  of  Old  Court,  about  a  half  a  mile  west  of  Doneraile. 
The  epitaph  is  from  the  chisel  of  Denis  O'Daly.  The  Most 
Rev.  John  O'Brien,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  whilst  a  young  priest  on 
the  mission  in  the  Diocese,  wrote  another  epitaph  which  is  also 
engraven  on  the  tombstone.  The  following  would  be  a  metrical 
translation  of  it:  — 

"A  gravestone  lies  above  thee,  laid  this  night, 
Thou  mildest  priest,  in  God's  great  laws  well  versed  — 
O'Keeffe,  of  heroes  mightiest  in  the  fight. 
Whose  lore  illumed  the  Gaelic  learning  'erst." 


278       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  III 

The  original  inscription  translated  from  the  Irish  by  D.  McCabe, 
reads: 

"Here  lies  interred  Owen  O'KeefFe,  who  spent  a  part  of  his  life 
married,  and  after  the  death  of  his  wife  was  filled  with  a  divine 
vocation,  being  a  wise,  prudent,  chaste,  affable  man,  a  profound 
and  skilled  poet  and  genealogist, 

"A  zealous  and  indefatigable  priest,  well  versed  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  original  language  of  his  forefathers  and  country,  through 
which  this  uncommon  inscription  has  been  placed  over  him. 

"He  died  on  the  5th  of  April,  1726,  and  it  is  sorrowful  to  the 
youth  of  Munster,  and  moreover  to  its  clergy,  he  having  left 
many  truly  learned  and  well  written  books  in  his  own  autograph, 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  Ireland  this  day. 

*'Jlas,  cold  flag,  beside  you  lie  of  life  bereft 
A  gentle  -priest,  in  God's  great  laws  well  versed; 
A  -poet,  genealogist,  historian  far  famed. 
Of  the  brave  Sept  O'Keeffe,  who  in  conflict  gained  renown."  ^ 

The  beautiful  Celtic  cross,  seen  at  present  over  the  grave 
of  Father  O'Keeffe,  in  which  the  ancient  tombstone  is 
skillfully  inserted,  v^as  erected  by  Canon  Sheehan. 

The  condition  of  the  Catholic  parish  at  this  time,  so  far 
as  its  temporalities  w^ere  concerned,  may  be  gleaned  from 
the  following  record  in  An  abstract  of  the  state  of  Popery 
in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne  6  Nov.  1731:  "Doneraile  Parish  has 
a  kind  of  shedd  instead  of  a  Mass-house.  One  Popish 
priest  serves  this  and  Templeroan  parish.  There  is  no 
convent  of  Fryars  or  Nuns.     No  Popish  school." 

Among  other  remarkable  predecessors  of  Canon  Sheehan 
as  parish  priests  in  Doneraile  may  be  mentioned:  Rev. 
John  Cotter,  P.P.  from  1 739-1 784.  The  inscription  on  his 
tomb  in  the  Old  Court  graveyard  reads: 

"This  monument  was  erected  by  the  Rev.  James  Cotter,  P.P., 
of  Doneraile  to  the  memory  of  his  uncle  Rev.  John  Cotter. 

"During  forty-five  years  he  governed  the  parish  with  that  in- 
tegrity and  zeal  which  dignify  the  priesthood.     Disinterested  and 

^  These  details  regarding  his  predecessors  were  collected  by  Canon  Sheehan 
himself  at  the  instance  of  Colonel  James  Grove  White,  and  written  by  him,  with 
other  researches  in  the  same  field,  for  the  Journal  oj  the  Cork  Historical  and  Archeo- 
logical  Society. 


Chap.  I]        THE   PARISH  OF   DONERAILE  279 

humane,  he  felt  for  the  distress  of  mankind,  and  merited  the  uni- 
versal love  and  applause  of  his  parishioners.  —  Adoring  the  dis- 
position of  an  all  wise  Providence,  he  met  death  with  firmness, 
and  cheerfully  resigned  his  spirit  to  the  hand  of  his  Maker  i6th 
of  May  1788,  aged  84  years. 

*'  Te  populus  coluit,  luget  te  luce  carentem 
Inque  uno  patrem  pastorem  plangit  amicum. 

{Translation) 

Thy  people  worshipped  thee; 

Now,  since  thy  eyes  are  closed,  they  weep 

That  they  have  lost  in  thee 

Their  father,  friend  and  priest  of  God." 

From  1799  to  181 5  the  Very  Rev.  Lewis  Walsh,  P.P., 
Vicar  General  of  Cloyne,  resided  at  Doneraile.  He  built  a 
chapel  at  Shanballymore,  and  is  on  record  as  the  priest  who 
protested  against  the  Veto.  He  too  is  buried  in  the  Old 
Court  graveyard,  and  his  tomb  bears  the  following  charac- 
teristic inscription: 

I  HERE   ARE   DEPOSITED  THE   REMAINS   OF  THE   VERY   REV.    LEWIS   WALSH 

DOCTOR   OF   DIVINITY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    NANTZ 
VICAR   GENERAL  TO  THE   RT.   REV   DR.   COPPINGER 
AND   R.   CATHOLIC   RECTOR   OF  THE    PARISH   OF   DONERAILE. 
HE  ADMINISTERED  THE   SPIRITUAL   CARE    OF  THE    PARISH   FOR    I5   YEARS   WITH   THE 
ENLIGHTENED  ZEAL   AND    EXEMPLARY   PIETY   OF   A  TRULY   CHRISTIAN    PASTOR. 
HE   DIED  ON  THE    i6tH  DAY  OF  JANUARY  IN  THE  YEAR  OF  O.   L.    1815 
SINCERELY    AND    UNIVERSALLY    REGRETTED. 
MAY    GOD    GRANT    ETERNAL   REST   TO    HIS    SOUL.      AMEN. 

The  next  pastor  was  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  O'Brien,  also 
Vicar  General,  who  governed  the  parish  for  almost  twenty 
years,  and  during  that  time  built  the  church  (1827)  in  Don- 
eraile. He  also  built  the  Presentation  Convent  at  Doner- 
aile (1828).  He  is  mentioned  as  having  been  called  to 
testify  as  witness  in  the  great  conspiracy  alleged  against  the 
people  of  Doneraile,  which  was  tried  in  the  court  of  Cork 
in  1829. '^  He  was  buried  in  the  church  which  he  had  built. 
Beside  him  lies  his  successor,  the  Very  Rev.  P.  Sheehan, 
D.D.,  who  was  Vicar  General  of  the  Cloyne  diocese. 

^  This  trial  forms  the  subject  of  Canon  Sheehan's  novel  Glenanaar. 


28o       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

An  item  of  interest  to  American  readers  is  the  fact  that 
among  the  curates  of  Doneraile  parish  was  Dr.  Michael 
O'Connor,  afterward  Bishop  of  Pittsburgh.  His  special 
charge  was  the  chaplaincy  of  the  convent  of  the  Presentation 
nuns.  When,  in  1838,  Dr.  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  after- 
ward Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  visited  Doneraile,  he  induced 
Dr.  O'Connor,  on  behalf  of  his  brother  Francis  Patrick 
Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  to  come  to  America, 
where  he  became  rector  of  the  diocesan  seminary  of  St. 
Charles  Borromeo.  Among  other  curates  mentioned  between 
1834  and  1849  is  a  "Father  Meagher,  who  died  in  America." 
From  1 866-1 870  the  parish  priest  of  Doneraile  was  Dr. 
Thomas  W.  Croke,  subsequently  promoted  to  the  bishopric 
of  Auckland,  to  become,  in  1875,  Archbishop  of  Cashel. 

In  1785  the  parish  of  Doneraile,  dedicated  to  the  Nativity 
of  the  B.  V.  Mary,  included  the  churches  of  Kilcoiman, 
Kilmacoom,  and  Killady  (built  by  St.  Mochomoc),  Rossagh, 
Kilconnors  (mentioned  in  a  Bull  of  Pope  Nicholas),  Temple- 
roan,  and  Kilmacneese.  A  later  record  tells  that  "the 
parish  is  united  to  those  of  Cahirduggan  and  Templeroan." 

It  appears  from  documents  in  the  possession  of  Lady 
Castletown  that  the  district  of  *'  Downeraile"  was  purchased, 
with  much  other  land,  in  1636  by  Sir  William  St.  Leger, 
whose  ancestors  had  crossed  to  England  in  1066  with  William 
the  Conqueror.  The  owners  at  that  time  were  Sir  Walter 
Welmond  and  John  Spenser,  son  of  the  poet.  In  1645 
Doneraile  Castle  was  captured  by  the  Irish,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing century  is  reported  as  being  in  ruins.  The  beautiful 
mansion  of  "Doneraile  Court"  was  built  in  1725,  and  a 
part  of  it  was  subsequently  burnt.  On  account  of  the 
very  extensive  and  well  kept  park  attached  to  the  house 
the  estate  came  to  be  called  (1814)  "Doneraile  Park.'* 
The  river  Awbeg  runs  near  the  Presbytery,  and  is  crossed 
by  a  neat  stone  bridge  of  three  arches,  whence  the  name 
of  "Bridge  House,"  which  Canon  Sheehan  occasionally 
puts  at  the  head  of  his  letters. 

Although  the  town  is  small  it  was  not  without  civic  and 
literary  distinction  in  the  past.     In  the  seventeenth  century 


Chap.  I]        THE   PARISH  OF   DONERAILE  281 

Doneraile  was  a  parliamentary  borough.  Here  Sir  William 
St.  Leger,  Lord  President  of  Munster,  had  his  castle,  and 
as  lord  of  the  manor,  or  through  his  seneschal,  was  privi- 
leged to  hold  court-leet  and  court-baron.  By  a  second 
charter  under  Charles  II  (1660)  the  borough  was  empowered 
to  return  two  members  to  the  Irish  Parliament,  and  the 
elective  franchise  was  vested  in  the  freeholders  made  by 
the  lord  of  the  manor.  From  this  period  until  the  Union 
it  continued  to  send  two  burgesses  to  parliament.  Then 
it  was  disfranchised  with  a  compensation  of  £15,000  paid 
to  the  heirs  of  the  Viscount  of  Doneraile. 

The  township  also  has  the  reputation  of  having  been 
a  famous  sporting  center,  and  is  supposed  to  have  enriched 
the  English  language  with  the  term  "Steeplechase."  The 
local  history  records  a  running  match  of  the  year  1752  — 
the  first  of  its  kind  —  when  "Mr.  O'Callaghan  and  Edmund 
Blake  raced  from  the  church  of  Buttevant  to  the  spire 
(or  steeple)  of  the  church  (St.  Leger),  a  distance  of  four 
miles  and  a  half  over  a  stiff  country." 

The  country  round  about  Doneraile  is  extremely  attrac- 
tive, the  forest  abounding  in  admirable  specimens  of  shade 
trees,  oak,  elm,  larch,  Spanish  chestnuts,  and  fine  fir  of  broad 
girth.  The  hillsides  are  studded  with  handsome  country 
residences.  The  river  falls  in  cascades,  and  in  its  clear 
waters  are  found  choice  trout  of  the  rainbow  and  Loch 
Leven  breed.  Deer  and  other  game  roam  freely  through 
the  well-kept  preserves  of  the  Park. 

The  region  is  full  of  legendary  traditions  in  which  "the 
White  Lady"  and  various  impersonations  of  the  past 
Viscounts  of  Doneraile  are  made  to  figure.^ 

1  A  peculiar  kind  of  poetic  fame  attaches  to  Doneraile  through  the  well-known 
ode  of  execration,  called  the  Curse  of  Doneraile,  by  Patrick  O'Kelly,  who,  having 
come  from  Dublin  to  that  town,  there  lost  his  watch  and  seal.     Whereupon  he 
wrote  a  damning  denunciation  of  the  place  and  people,  in  verse.     His  own  powers 
as  a  poet  he  has  immortalized  in  an  autobiography  which  ends: 
"  'Twould  take  a  Byron  and  a  Scott,  I  tell  ye, 
Combined  in  one  to  make  a  Pat  O'Kelly." 
It  is  said  that  the  Lady  Doneraile,  to  save  the  reputation  of  the  town,  made  him  a 
present  of  a  watch  and  seal,  in  consequence  of  which  he  composed  a  Palinode  to 
offset  the  "Curse"  of  Doneraile. 


282       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  III 

Like  other  places  in  Ireland  where  saintly  missionaries 
had  come  to  baptize  the  newly  converted,  the  town  has 
its  Holy  Well,  the  Tober  Coneela.  Tradition  traces  the 
name  to  Coneela  a  CoUiagh,  one  of  the  three  virgin  saints 
invoked  as  patrons  of  Doneraile,  Drinagh-wood,  and  Walls- 
town.  Olehane,  chief  of  the  district,  is  said  to  have  founded 
a  church  near  one  of  the  wells,  and  the  latter  was  believed 
to  cure  sore  eyes  and  scurvy.  A  second  church  on  the  site 
of  the  present  building  in  Doneraile,  or  a  Httle  behind  it, 
was  dedicated  to  St.  Coneela. 

Doneraile,  taking  in  the  outlying  farms,  counts  1833 
inhabitants  according  to  the  latest  government  census. 
But  the  parish  hmits  extend  over  an  area  of  about  seventy 
square  miles  and  include  a  mission  chapel  at  Shanballymore, 
together  with  a  number  of  "Stations"  where  the  priests 
periodically  say  Mass,  and  at  the  same  time  administer 
the  sacraments  and  give  religious  instruction.  Canon 
Sheehan  has  described  these  places  in  an  interesting  memoir 
in  which,  while  giving  an  account  of  his  parish  work,  he 
touches  upon  the  legendary  and  historic  associations  of 
the  various  localities.     He  writes: 

Well,  we've  finished  the  rounds  of  Stations.  We  have  trodden 
on  historic,  or  semi-historic  ground.  We  have  passed  by  the 
two  Danish  moats  under  the  old  frontier  keep  of  Shinagh,  near 
Waterdyke;  have  skirted  Ballinamone,  the  ancient  seat  of  the 
Nagles,  one  of  whom,  Elizabeth  Nagle,  married  Spenser,  the  poet 
(see  Lowell  on  the  English  poets).  In  this  house,  too,  lived  George 
Bond  Lowe,  who  was  fired  at  eighty  years  ago,  whence  originated 
the  famous  "  Doneraile  Conspiracy  Trial,"  in  the  evolutions  of 
which  O'Connell  won  his  brightest  laurels.  Who  has  not  heard 
of  his  journey  by  coach  from  Cahirciveen,  his  relays  by  the  way, 
his  appearance  in  Cork  courthouse  to  the  utter  dismay  of  the 
Solicitor-General,  his  breakfast  on  the  dry  loaf  of  bread,  inter- 
rupted between  every  bite  by  his  exclamation:  "That's  not  law, 
sir!"  the  saving  of  the  poor  victims  from  the  gallows  by  his  marvel- 
lous eloquence;  their  transportation  —  ah,  yes!  it  all  comes  back, 
for  here  are  their  grandchildren  In  my  parish  to-day.  And  down 
there  across  the  Awbeg,  whose  silver  is  now  gleaming  in  the  morn- 
ing sunlight,  is  the  spot  where  Father  O'Neill  was  horsewhipped  by 


Chap.  I]        THE   PARISH  OF   DONERAILE  283 

Captain  St.  Leger;  and  when  the  old  priest  shrank  from  prosecu- 
tion, Curran  forced  him  into  it,  took  up  the  cause  of  the  old  man 
without  fee  or  reward,  except  that  it  laid  the  first  stone  of  an  im- 
mortal reputation.  Here,  too,  is  Carker  {career,  a  prison),  where 
my  predecessor.  Father  Tighe  Daly,  lived  in  1688,  one  of  the  priests 
who  had  to  be  duly  registered  and  his  good  conduct  guaranteed 
by  two  solvent  securities.  Here  is  the  copy  of  his  registration, 
culled  from  the  Rolls  Office,  Dublin  Castle. 

Canon  Sheehan  carefully  copies  the  registration,  culled 
from  the  Rolls  Office,  Dublin,  in  which  Father  Daly  is 
written  down  as  *'the  pretended  parish  priest  of  Cahir- 
duggan,  Doneraile  and  Templeroan." 

Next  he  speaks  of  Tooreen,  a  favorite  spot  of  his,  back 
in  the  defiles  of  the  black  mountains: 

You  can  see  it  gleaming  —  a  little  green  patch  against  the  sombre 
setting  of  the  purple  hills;  and  it  stretches  deep  down  into  the 
brown  valleys,  where  the  streams,  turbid  with  flood-wrack,  wine- 
colored  from  the  peat,  or  crystal  in  the  mild  summer  time,  forever 
break  the  silence  and  monotony  of  these  wilds.  And  here  dwell 
a  simple,  hardy  race  leading  a  kind  of  monastic  life  in  their  soli- 
tudes, and  rarely  venturing  beyond  the  seclusion  of  their  valleys, 
except  to  Mass  on  Sundays  or  holidays.  I  had  heard  of  them 
long  before  I  ever  thought  I  should  be  their  pastor.  From  far 
before  the  famine  years,  when  the  population  was  ten  times  what 
it  is  to-day,  their  reputation  has  come  down  unbroken,  as  being 
the  very  first,  winter  and  summer  alike,  to  enter  the  church  on 
Sunday  morning.  They  are  seven  miles  away  —  no  roads  from 
the  inner  fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  —  yet  here  they  are  at  half- 
past  seven  on  Sunday  morning,  eager  for  the  Mass  that  is  to 
cast  its  halo  of  blessing  over  their  labors  for  the  coming  week. 
I  tell  them  they  ought  to  be  holy  —  they  are  so  near  to  God. 

He  loves  to  go  out  into  the  open  country  with  the  men, 
to  hear  their  talk  and  catch  the  impressions  which  things 
make  on  their  minds  and  hearts.  Here  was  the  melting- 
pot  out  of  which  came  the  real  figures  of  Irish  life  for  his 
novels. 

"From  this  spot,  yer  reverence,"  says  old  Dan  Magrath,  the 
woodranger,  "you  can  see  the  five  counties." 


284       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  III 

So  you  can.  The  sea  to  the  south,  the  Shannon  to  the  west; 
and  in  the  east,  Knockmeldown,  beneath  whose  conical  summits 
nestles  the  Mecca  of  the  Irish  —  the  Monastery  of  Melleray.  And 
far  In  front  stretches  a  vast  landscape,  broken  by  ridges  that  run 
parallel  to  one  another,  but  transverse,  here  from  the  mountains 
to  the  sea.  It  Is  dotted  all  over  with  white  farm  houses,  from  which 
the  blue  smoke,  this  calm  March  morning,  curls  upward  to  the 
sky.  The  smell  of  Spring  Is  in  the  air,  blended  with  the  pungent 
aroma  of  peat  and  wood-fires,  carried  to  us  across  the  wide  low- 
lands; the  cattle  are  browsing  lazily  in  the  far  meadows;  now  and 
again  you  can  hear  the  bark  of  a  watch  dog  far  away,  or  the  song 
of  some  colleen  or  bouchal,  as  they  pass  down  to  the  creamery; 
and  all  Heaven  over  your  head  Is  resonant  with  the  raptures  of 
the  larks  who  fling  down  the  dews  from  their  exultant  wings  and 
the  peals  of  music  from  their  throats  that  gasp  with  exuberant 
melody.  And  this  is  Ireland.?  Yes!  And  there,  down  there  In 
the  lowlands,  and  here  in  the  mountain  defiles,  are  the  Celts.? 
Yes,  every  one!  But  was  it  not  here,  even  in  this  very  valley  of 
Toreen,  that  Spenser  saw  the  ghosts  coming  out  of  their  caverns; 
and  was  it  not  of  this  very  country  he  wrote,  that  its  population 
was  exterminated.?  Hear  his  words,  written  just  there  below, 
where  the  black  ruin  of  Kilcolman  Castle  makes  a  blot  upon  the 
landscape: 

"Out  of  every  corner  of  the  woods  and  glens  they  came  creep- 
ing forth  upon  their  hands,  for  their  legs  could  not  bear  them; 
they  looked  anatomies  of  death;  they  spoke  like  ghosts  crying 
out  of  the  graves;  they  did  eat  of  the  carrions,  happy  when  they 
could  find  them,  yea,  and  one  another  soon  after.  Insomuch  as 
the  very  carcasses  they  spared  not  to  scrape  out  of  their  graves; 
and,  if  they  found  a  plot  of  water  cresses  or  shamrocks,  there  they 
flocked  as  to  a  feast  for  the  time;  yet  not  able  long  to  continue 
wherewithal;  that  in  short  space  there  were  none  left,  and  a 
most  populous  and  plentiful  country  was  suddenly  left  void  of 
man  or  beast." 

Yet  a  few  years,  and  through  these  very  files  swept  down  the 
stalwart  Rapparees,  who  surrounded  Kilcolman  Castle,  and  put 
the  brand  to  this  keep  of  the  robber  and  the  stranger;  and  then 
with  characteristic  chivalry  dashed  through  the  burning  rooms  to 
rescue  a  babe,  whom,  too  late,  they  had  heard  was  left  behind 
by  the  Saxon  servants.  And  here  after  three  hundred  years 
confiscation  and  burning,  exile  and  death,  Connaught  plantations 


Chap.  I]       THE   PARISH  OF   DONERAILE  285 

and  West  Indian  expatriation,  here  still  are  the  Celts  apparently 
as  indomitable  as  ever.  Surely,  if  Rome  is  the  "Eternal  City," 
the  Irish  are  the  "undying  race." 

Let  us  go  down  from  the  hill-top  in  our  course  of  Stations,  and 
visit  the  lowlands.  We  pass  at  once  under  the  shadow  of  another 
mighty  frontier  fortress,  also  belonging  to  Spenser,  for  he  held 
three  thousand  acres  of  land  here,  confiscated  from  the  Earl 
of  Desmond.  It  is  a  splendid  old  keep,  still  well  preserved  —  a 
square,  embattled  tower,  like  that  which  suggested  to  Dante  the 
simile  of  masculine  fortitude  —  Sta  come  torre  ferma.  You  can 
see  it  for  miles  around.  Sometimes,  when  the  sun  shines,  it  is 
almost  invisible,  for  the  white  face  of  it  does  not  show  against  the 
sunlit  mountains.  But,  generally,  it  stands  out  clear,  distinct, 
well  defined,  a  solid  square  of  mediaeval  masonry  against  the  ever- 
lasting hills.  It  is  Castlepooke  —  the  keep  of  the  Phooca  or 
Witch;  for  you  must  know  that  once  on  a  time,  a  famous  witch, 
and  a  malignant  one,  took  up  her  quarters  here,  and  wrought 
dire  distress  amongst  the  people  around.  She  burned  the  corn 
in  the  fields,  until  the  wheat  ears  were  filled  with  soot  instead  of 
grain,  sterilized  the  milk  in  dairies  until  no  amount  of  churning 
could  produce  cream,  brought  dread  disease  on  the  cattle,  etc., 
and  alas!  there  was  no  benevolent  fairy  to  counteract  the  evil 
doings,  or  bring  blessing  for  curse  to  the  afflicted  people.  But 
there  was  a  hope  —  a  promise  —  a  tradition,  that  if  the  habit  of  a 
Grey  Friar  could  be  flung  over  her  in  her  sleep  she  would  rise  up 
and  vanish  in  a  flash  of  fire.  And,  one  day,  the  emancipation  came. 
A  poor  mendicant  called  at  a  farmer's  house  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  begged  for  alms  and  a  night's  lodging.  It  was  freely  given 
in  this  land  of  hospitality.  The  stranger  slept,  and  lo!  curiosity 
led  the  vanithee  to  open  and  inspect  the  bundle  the  poor  man 
brought.  It  was  all  he  had,  but  the  staffs  for  his  hand.  And  she 
drew  out  the  lone  grey  habit  of  a  friar.  It  was  rash,  perhaps 
sacrilegious;  but  the  time  had  come.  God  had  sent  His  messenger. 
But  who  would  dare  face  the  tigress  in  her  den  ?  Not  one  would 
volunteer!  At  last,  a  little  child  was  requisitioned.  She  knew 
no  fear,  probably  because  she  knew  no  sin.  Carelessly  she  as- 
cended the  high  mound  of  the  Castle,  carelessly  entered,  care- 
lessly threw  the  garment  over  the  sleeping  woman,  who  instantly 
rose  in  the  air,  angry  and  threatening,  and  passed  away  forever- 
more  in  a  flash  of  fire  towards  the  West.  So  goes  the  legend; 
and  of  course  it  is  true;   but  I  do  not  vouch  for  it. 


286       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE    [Part    III 

Another  "Station"  on  which  he  dwells  is  Kilmacneese 
in  the  plain,  where  there  was  an  old  church  and  graveyard 
of  Saint  McNeese,  a  disciple  of  St.  Patrick.  This  Station 
comprises  Inchnagree  (the  island  of  the  cattle  pens)  under 
the  mountains  of  Mole.  Thence  you  pass  across  Bawntigeen 
(the  green  field  of  the  little  house)  on  to  Kilcolman,  Ardeen, 
and  Ballyvonaire.  Here  also  was  a  church,  built  in  honor 
of  St.  Colman.     But  let  Father  Sheehan  speak: 

Here,  in  a  little  field,  is  the  church  of  Rossdoyle  or  Rossdale, 
mentioned  in  the  same  page  as  Doneraile,  in  the  assessment  made 
by  Pope  Nicholas  in  1291,  for  the  Crusades  in  the  Holy  Land. 
But  St.  Colman's  Church  and  priory  are  gone:  yet  here  dating 
from  1387  is  the  Castle  of  Kilcolman,  famous  for  ever  as  the  place 
where  the  'Faerie  Queen'  was  written.  It  is  now  a  solid  stump 
of  masonry,  but  must  have  extended  far  and  wide  across  the 
meadow  and  above  the  bog,  there  beneath,  once  an  ornamental 
lake.  How  the  imagination  travels  back  across  centuries  to  the 
old  Desmond  Lords  who  built  it;  to  the  Elizabethan  usurper, 
who  never  preached  but  one  solution  of  the  eternal  Irish  question, 
and  that  the  Cromwellian  one  of  wholesale  massacre!  And  how 
the  centuries  glide  into  each  other;  for  here  a  few  years  ago,  the 
most  popular  representative  the  great  Republic  of  the  West  ever 
sent  to  Ireland,  J.  J.  Piatt,  wrote  sonnets  on  the  blackened  ruin 
and  on  the  more  modern  structure  beneath. 

Here  he  copies  into  his  notebook  a  poem  which  he  had 
unearthed  and  which  tells  of  the  chivalry  of  an  Irish  warrior 
who  leaped  three  times  into  the  flames  to  save  the  despot's 
child. 

He  had  not  much  sympathy  for  Spenser  the  poet,  as  a 
man,  remembering  how  that  autocrat  was  ready  to  exter- 
minate the  Irish  people;  and  he  records  the  gruesome  fact 
of  how  Spenser  died  a  beggar  in  London  in  a  lane  near 
the  great  Cathedral  of  Westminster.  But  Canon  Sheehan's 
Irish  patriotism  finds  some  compensation  in  knowing  that  at 
present  Kilcolman  Castle  is  held  by  the  Celto-Catholic 
Barrys,  and  that  "right  under  the  old  keep  is  the  white- 
washed cottage  of  the  secretary  of  the  Land  League  —  an 
unmistakable  Celt  of  Celts  —  WilUam  O Toole." 


Chap.  I]        THE   PARISH  OF   DONERAILE  287 

Across  the  Awbeg  he  comes  to  Caherna, 

where  for  three  hundred  years  the  greatest  horse  fair  in  the  world 
is  held  on  the  nth  and  12th  July;  by  Cahirduggan,  whose  vil- 
lage (depopulated  by  plague)  church  and  castle  are  swept  away; 
by  Cornahinch  (hill  of  the  island),  ArdanafFron,  which  is  either 
hill  of  the  Mass,  or  Saffron  Hill,  its  modern  appellation,  for  here 
grew  acres  of  yellow  crocuses,  which  yielded  the  saffron,  with 
which  the  Irish  invariably  dyed  their  outer  garment;  by  Bally- 
an-Dree,  the  town  of  the  Druids,  and  Crogh-na-cree,  where  there 
still  may  be  seen  the  sulphur  and  lithia  well  that  wrought  marvel- 
lous cures  in  pre-Patrician  times. 

The  traditions  that  clung  to  Doneraile  parish  w^ere  not 
without  significance  for  the  new  pastor's  future  work. 
They  furnished  him  with  interesting  material  for  study, 
and  they  helped  to  fashion  his  impressions  regarding  the 
character  of  the  people  among  whom  he  lived.  The  pride 
that  attaches  to  the  ancient  glory  of  the  race  remains  in 
the  heart  of  the  children.  They  feel  a  proprietorship  in 
the  natural  beauty  of  the  country  around  them,  over  which 
no  land-law  has  control.  There  is  the  romance  of  heroic 
deeds  embedded  in  the  soil.  Every  shrub  and  tree  exhales 
a  subtle  aroma  that  speaks  to  the  humble  peasant  as  it 
speaks  to  a  poet,  of  love  of  country,  and  of  future  hopes  of 
the  freedom  that  once  was  a  birthright  in  every  clan.  The 
sign  of  the  cross  is  everywhere  in  nature.  The  faith  of 
the  native  of  Erin  is  entwined  with  the  valor  of  the  past 
and  the  glory  of  the  days  to  come,  not  only  in  the  symbolic 
shamrock,  but  in  rock  and  stream,  in  bog  and  sea,  in  the 
song  of  the  thrush  on  his  roof  tree,  and  in  the  curling  smoke 
that  rises  through  the  chimney  of  the  peasant's  cabin. 
These  visions  are  ever  alive  to  the  imagination  of  the  Celt 
and  create  for  him  a  folklore  wholly  present  and  intimate. 

Such  tokens,  full  of  lyric  mystery,  attracted  the  aesthetic 
spirit  of  Canon  Sheehan.  He  loved  to  inquire  and  search 
into  the  magic  of  these  things  and  to  find  in  them  the 
answers  to  countless  riddles  and  questionings  of  the  soul. 
Their  echoes  are  to  be  found  in  his  writings,  in  his  preaching, 
and  indeed  in  his  whole  life  as  the  pastor  of  the  people. 


288       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

The  poetry  of  nature  and  the  traditions  of  Ireland  had  for 
him  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  furnishing  the  instru- 
ments through  which  he  might  interpret  truth  to  his  country- 
men and  especially  to  his  humble  parishioners.  He  loved 
to  speak  of  nature  to  the  children,  whose  souls  were  to  him 
the  souls  of  poets  and  princes  by  right  divine. 

Whilst  his  perceptions  turned  to  the  practical  needs  of 
the  soul,  the  instincts  of  his  heart  made  him  sympathize 
with  the  bodily  miseries  and  wants  of  those  around  him. 
Thence  sprang  that  eminently  priestly  eagerness  to  relieve 
his  people  of  the  burden,  not  merely  of  sin,  but  of  all  the 
ills  that  result  from  it,  —  the  slavery  of  earthly  dependence, 
the  thriftless  poverty  that  dishonors,  and  all  the  evils  that 
are  not  of  God's  making,  but  lead  to  the  degrading  of  man's 
native  nobility. 

With  these  principles  in  view  he  ordered  his  pastoral 
life  from  the  first  day  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  their 
spiritual  leader. 


II 

SHEPHERD    OF    HIS     FLOCK 

CANON  SHEEHAN'S  life  in  Doneraile  was  centered 
in  the  education  of  the  children  of  his  parish,  in 
the  betterment  of  his  people,  and  in  his  literary 
work.  His  was  a  busy  and  an  active  life.  From  early 
morning  till  late  at  night  his  duties  as  pastor  absorbed  his 
chief  attention.  He  was  methodical  and  simple  in  all  that 
he  did.  Punctually  each  day  he  said  Mass  in  the  parish 
church.  It  was  his  custom  to  make  half  an  hour's  thanks- 
giving unless  some  urgent  call  of  charity  interfered,  after 
which  he  breakfasted.  After  that  he  usually  attended  to 
his  morning  mail,  answering  letters.  About  half-past  ten 
he  went  out  to  visit  the  schools.  There  were  two  schools 
in  his  immediate  neighborhood,  —  that  of  the  Christian 
Brothers  for  the  boys,  and  the  girls'  school  at  the  Presenta- 
tion convent.  Besides  these  he  had  under  his  care  five 
schools  in  the  outlying  districts.  These  he  carefully  super- 
vised, though  it  was  possible  to  visit  them  only  at  periodical 
intervals.  Yet  it  was  commonly  understood  that  every 
child  in  each  of  the  schools  was  known  to  him  by  name  as 
well  as  by  sight.  He  had  the  secret  of  making  the  children 
fond  of  him,  so  that  they  all  looked  upon  "Father  Pat's" 
coming  as  a  treat.  He  knew  how  to  interest  and  encourage 
them  individually.  His  singular  powers  of  observation 
made  him  at  once  understand  the  disposition  of  the  children 
to  whom  he  spoke,  and  he  was  able  to  recognize  through 
them  the  conditions  of  the  home  whence  they  came.  Quite 
often  he  thus  ascertained  the  particular  needs  of  the  parents, 
so  that  he  was  enabled  to  benefit  both  simultaneously. 
On  entering  the  school  he  noted  at  a  glance  the  absence  of 
any  child  from  its  accustomed  place.  If  new  pupils  hap- 
pened to  be  in  school  he  would  engage  them  in  pleasant 
talk,    showing   that   he  was   thoroughly   interested   in   the 

289 


290      CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

little  students.  From  his  "Station"  visits  he  knew  as  a  rule 
the  localities  whence  the  children  came,  their  play  haunts 
and  associations;  and  through  this  knowledge  he  was  able 
to  attach  them  to  him,  as  he  made  them  feel  that  they  were 
never  entirely  out  of  their  pastor's  sight.  It  was  a  pleasure 
to  see  the  little  gossoons  gather  around  him  to  hear  him 
tell  stories.     This  he  often  did  in  school,  and  he  had  re- 


From  a  photograph. 

"Father  Pat"  among  the  Children 

markable  skill  in  adapting  himself  to  their  Httle  ways  and 
imaginations. 

"He  was  particularly  beloved  by  the  very  small  children 
in  the  convent  school,  probably  because  the  good  Presen- 
tation nuns  knew  how  to  call  forth  manifestations  of  childish 
affection  from  their  scholars.  They  best  understood  the 
beautiful  spirit  of  their  pastor  whose  gentle  manner  toward 
the  little  ones  drew  them  to  him.  To  the  nuns  he  was  the 
priest  who  carried  not  only  blessing  and  peace  with  him, 
but  also  helpful  suggestions,  and  that  silent  encouragement 
which  means  so  much  to  the  teacher  in  school."  ^ 

One  of  the  religious  of  the  Presentation  Convent  tells 
how  the  Canon  managed  to  amuse  the  children  in  the 
infant  class.     "He  would  challenge  them  to  sing,  and  in 


1  From  Notes  by  Brother  P.  A.  Mulhall,  who,  as  Director  of  the  Boys'  School, 
was  associated  with  Canon  Sheehan  for  a  number  of  years. 


Chap.  II]  SHEPHERD  OF  HIS   FLOCK  291 

order  to  get  them  to  do  it,  would  himself  start  one  of  their 
favorite  baby  tunes.  As  a  rule  the  mites  soon  caught  the 
spirit  of  their  fatherly  preceptor,  and  would  try  to  improve 
on  his  rendering  of  the  melody.  An  American  priest  who 
visited  the  schools,  was,  to  his  surprise,  asked  to  sing  for 
the  children.  When  he  hesitated,  the  Canon  himself  struck 
up  some  favorite  air,  to  the  evident  delight  of  the  class. 
Then  the  visitor  had  to  take  his  turn,  as  did  the  children 
themselves.  Sometimes  the  Canon  would  draw  a  sketch 
on  the  blackboard,  and  turning  to  the  class  would  ask  who 
could  do  better  than  that;  whereupon  the  little  tots  would 
come  up  jauntily  and  try  their  skill.  On  one  of  his  last 
visits  to  the  infant  school  he  asked  the  children  if  they 
could  draw  his  picture  on  the  board.  They  hesitated. 
Taking  the  chalk,  he  outlined  a  pretended  sketch  of  himself. 
'Now,'  he  said,  'some  of  you  surely  can  do  better  than  that 
for  I  cannot  see  myself  as  you  can  see  me.'  Then  they 
gathered  round  him  to  study  his  face  and  figure,  whilst  he 
stood  before  them  as  though  he  were  posing  for  a  portrait 
painter;  and  it  gave  him  infinite  pleasure  to  see  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  they  tried,  one  after  another,  to  do  his 
likeness  in  'black  and  white.'  Nowhere,  outside  the 
community  room  of  the  convent,  where  he  was  always 
received  with  reverent  affection,  was  there  any  place  where 
he  felt  so  thoroughly  at  home  as  in  the  midst  of  the  little 
children."  It  was  a  common  refrain  with  him:  "If  the 
babies  have  a  special  place  in  heaven  I  should  like  the 
privilege  of  being  with  them  for  eternity."  Sometimes, 
on  leaving  the  class-room  he  would  turn  to  the  Sister  in 
charge,  and  half  sadly  say:  "How  I  wish  we  could  always 
keep  them  in  their  innocence;  the  thought  of  what  may 
become  of  them  saddens  me." 

If  he  kept  his  eyes  and  heart  on  the  children,  he  did 
not  lose  sight  of  the  adults.  He  invariably  celebrated 
the  half-past  eight  Mass  on  Sundays,  and  remained  in  or 
about  the  church  until  shortly  before  ten,  when  he  took 
his  breakfast.  At  half-past  eleven  he  was  back  in  the 
church;   and  he  stayed  there  until  a  quarter  to  two.     After 


292       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

the  twelve  o'clock  Mass  by  one  of  the  curates,  he  addressed 
the  children.  In  this  way  he  not  only  reUeved  his  assistants 
from  the  task  of  having  to  give  the  instruction  whilst  still 
fasting,  but  secured  continuous  and  systematic  preparation 
for  the  Sacraments.  Many  of  the  grown  people  attended 
these  instructions,  for  Canon  Sheehan's  eloquence,  while 
very  simple  and  direct,  was  wondrously  attractive.  He  had 
a  way  of  illustrating  the  eternal  truths  so  as  to  rivet 
the  attention  of  all,  especially  of  the  children.  Equally 
engaging  were  his  sermons  to  the  congregation.  They  were 
always  short,  and  they  held  the  attention  of  the  hearer  not 
only  by  the  lucidity  of  his  language  but  by  the  way  he 
had  of  investing  each  daily  action  with  a  spiritual  purpose. 
He  could  throw  a  glow  of  enthusiasm  over  the  ordinary 
duties,  so  that  the  employments  of  the  household,  of  the 
field  and  the  shop,  took  on  a  sacredness  that  lifted  daily 
life  above  the  commonplace. 

His  presence  at  the  late  Mass  gave  him  an  opportunity 
to  meet  the  people  as  they  came  out  of  the  church,  and  greet 
and  chat  with  them  individually.  They  got  quite  into  the 
habit  of  coming  up  to  him  to  shake  his  hand  or  kiss  it,  or 
to  ask  his  blessing,  or  a  word  of  advice  or  help.  "The 
affection  and  reverence  his  people  had  for  him,"  writes 
Brother  Mulhall,  "were  clearly  illustrated  on  these  occasions. 
He  had  a  greeting,  a  kind  word,  a  smile  for  each,  without 
making  any  exception  or  distinction.  This  was  keenly 
appreciated  by  everyone." 

After  two  o'clock  on  Sundays  he  placed  himself  at  the 
disposal  of  the  men  —  the  farmers  and  other  peasants 
and  cottiers,  —  to  hear  their  troubles  and  grievances,  and 
to  direct  them  in  their  agrarian  and  other  difficulties. 
He  had  a  keen  grasp  of  the  land  question,  and  by  his  pru- 
dence and  wise  counsel  was  the  means  of  averting  numberless 
quarrels  such  as  were  apt  to  arise  from  threats  of  eviction 
or  rivalries  among  the  tenants  in  the  days  before  1903. 
He  fearlessly  and  successfully  espoused  their  cause  in  the 
long  struggle  for  ownership  of  the  land. 

Sunday  after  Sunday  the  men  of  the  district  used  to  meet 


Chap.  II]         SHEPHERD  OF   HIS   FLOCK  293 

in  the  Christian  Brothers'  school,  with  the  Canon  as  chair- 
man, to  discuss  their  vexed  problems.  These  meetings  were 
conducted  in  the  most  orderly  and  practical  manner. 
Farmer  and  tenant  would  each  express  his  opinion  and 
when  all  had  spoken  the  Canon  restated  and  sifted  the 
difficulties.  In  conclusion  he  suggested  what  he  deemed 
the  wisest  course  of  action  for  the  best  interests  of  all. 
The  projects  and  matters  to  be  presented  to  the  landlords 
were  carefully  prepared  and  weighed;  and  it  was  remark- 
able with  what  confidence  the  men  came  in  time  to  rely 
on  their  pastor's  superior  wisdom  and  grasp  of  their  problems. 
They  felt  the  strength  of  his  judgment,  his  prudent  fore- 
sight, which  anticipated  every  obstacle,  and  his  manifest 
desire  to  benefit  them  individually  as  well  as  in  community. 

Thus  he  became  the  great  motive  power  behind  the 
farmers,  advising,  encouraging,  and  effectually  assisting 
them  by  every  safe  and  practical  counsel.  The  visitor 
to  Doneraile  to  this  day  will  hear  but  one  voice  of  cordial 
gratitude  for  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  late  Canon,  to  whom 
the  people  of  the  parish  owe  untold  blessings  of  domestic 
comfort,  generous  opportunities  of  primary  and  secondary 
education,  and  exceptional  prosperity. 

At  these  Sunday  meetings  the  farmers  at  first  discussed 
only  the  agrarian  troubles  that  prevented  them  from  im- 
proving and  holding  their  farms  on  rent.  After  the  passing 
of  the  Wyndham  Act,  when  it  had  become  evident  that  these 
disagreements  would  disappear  under  Canon  Sheehan's 
wise  guidance,  the  conferences  turned  on  the  improvement 
of  the  land  by  the  adoption  of  new  methods  for  raising 
profitable  crops,  increasing  the  farm  stock  and  dairy  products. 
Hitherto  the  tenants,  while  doing  their  best,  had  barely 
succeeded  in  keeping  their  families  on  the  harvests  wrung 
from  the  impoverished  soil.  It  was  not  worth  while  to 
improve  the  land,  for  that  would  only  call  for  a  rise  in  rents. 
Hence  the  people  on  the  farms  had  ceased  to  care  for  appear- 
ances; the  old  fences  were  left  unrepaired;  things  looked 
wretched  on  the  whole,  because  that  was  the  only  way 
to  keep  the  argus-eyed  agents  from  fresh  extortion. 


294       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE     [Part  III 

But  now  there  was  opened  up  a  new  outlook;  and  it 
seemed  as  though  the  slough  of  despondency,  in  which  the 
country  had  lain  for  long  years,  would  disappear.  Experts 
in  land  cultivation  were  invited  from  an  agricultural  col- 
lege to  give  the  people  a  knowledge  of  the  soil,  and  to  in- 
struct them  in  the  economical  ways  of  planting  and  culture. 
The  school  children,  returning  to  their  homes,  took  the 
papers  which  their  pastor  gave  them  and  read  them  to  the 
old  people,  who  were  proud  of  the  knowledge  which  came 
from  such  sources.  Order,  cleanliness,  thrift,  intelligence, 
worked  hand  in  hand,  and  made  the  young  folks  feel  their 
importance  as  cultivators  and  prospective  owners  of  the 
soil.  There  was  a  lessening  of  the  craze  to  go  to  America; 
and  altogether  things  took  on  a  brightness  that  rejoiced 
both  pastor  and  people. 

The  influence  which  Canon  Sheehan  wielded  among  the 
people  was  not  confined  to  Catholics,  nor  to  the  farmers 
thus  benefited.  The  local  authorities  recognized  that  the 
parish  priest  of  Doneraile  was  a  dominant  factor  for  good 
in  the  district.  At  public  meetings,  whether  convened  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  charity  or  for  some  other  local 
interest,  or  merely  for  entertainment,  the  Canon  was  almost 
invariably  called  upon  to  preside.  He  was  known  to  be  not 
only  a  most  eloquent  and  forceful  speaker,  but  the  master 
of  a  clear  mind,  full  of  resources,  and  gifted  with  a  kind 
heart  which  took  account  of  whatever  concerned  the  welfare 
of  the  various  classes  in  the  community.  Those  who 
diflPered  from  him  in  politics  or  in  religion  soon  came  to 
realize  that,  whilst  he  was  an  ardent  lover  of  his  country, 
a  fervent  priest,  who  would  stand  for  no  compromise  that 
demeaned  his  profession  of  faith  or  dimmed  his  patriotism, 
he  was  nevertheless  free  from  the  bias  that  makes  the 
mere  partisan.  They  recognized  in  him  a  man  of  refined 
sentiment,  one  who  had  nothing  but  tolerance  and  courtesy 
for  those  honestly  differing  from  him.  Above  all,  they  knew 
that  he  was  a  person  of  all-sided  education  and  good  in- 
stincts, a  writer  whose  contributions  to  literature  had  shed 
luster  upon  his  country,  whom  every  intelligent  and  honor- 


Chap.  II]         SHEPHERD   OF   HIS   FLOCK  295 

able  man  might  proudly  claim  as  a  fellow  citizen.  For 
this  reason  he  was  sought  after  by  all  classes  of  societies 
and  local  organizations  for  the  promotion  of  industry, 
reform,  or  the  pursuit  of  science,  letters,  and  arts.  So 
it  came  about  that  among  his  friends  were  the  neighboring 
notables  of  no  matter  what  rehgion  or  political  party. 

Canon  Sheehan  was  understood  to  be  the  most  public- 
spirited  citizen  in  the  borough.  He  made  it  plain  to  his 
people  that  a  proper  community  sense  demanded  of  them  to 
do  their  shopping  and  repairing  with  the  tradesmen  and 
contractors  of  their  own  town.  He  himself  followed  this 
policy,  declaring  that  little  or  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by 
going  abroad;  and  that  to  do  so  meant  a  positive  loss  to 
local  development.  This  caused  the  business  men  to  be 
invariably  fair  in  their  dealings,  thus  creating  pubhc  con- 
fidence and  a  just  local  pride. 

In  like  manner  his  influence  made  the  policing  of  the 
district  practically  unnecessary.  Delinquents  were  fol- 
lowed up  by  him  in  the  gentlest  but  most  persistent  manner. 
It  was  quite  well  known,  however,  that  where  the  chief 
excuse  for  any  wrong  was  poverty,  the  Canon  was  sure  to 
obtain  freedom  from  penalty  for  the  culprit.  "Many  a  fine 
turn  my  good  Canon  did  for  me  unbeknownst  to  ye  all," 
said  an  old  woman  after  his  death.  "The  other  mornin' 
I  tould  him  I  had  nothin'  for  the  childer's  breakfast.  He 
called  me  into  his  sittin'  room  and  says  he:  'Is  it  true 
what  they  say  of  you,  that  you  take  a  little  drop  now  and 
then?'  'Begor  it  is,  Canon,'  says  I,  'when  I  get  a  pint  of 
porter  for  nothin'.'  With  that  he  give  me  two  and  six-pence, 
saying:  'That  won't  be  much  harm,  my  good  woman,  if 
you  keep  to  that.'  And  I  goes  out  and  gets  the  children's 
bread  and  milk  and  a  drop  for  mesel'  to  drink  the  poor 
Canon's  health."  His  care  of  the  poor  was  touching.  It 
was  quite  a  common  habit  with  him  to  walk  into  the  house 
or  cabin  at  meal  time;  sometimes  he  would  taste  the  por- 
ridge or  the  potatoes  and  milk  given  to  the  children.  "The 
potatoes  are  poor,"  he  would  say,  and  then  slip  a  shilling 
or  two  into  the  child's  hand,  so  as  not  to  offend  the  sensi- 


296      CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

tiveness  of  the  old  folk,  who  might  not  be  willing  to  expose 
their  wants. 

An  instance  of  his  public-spiritedness  and  care  for  the 
general  welfare  was  his  conduct  on  the  occasion  of  a  fire, 
during  the  winter  of  1900,  which  threatened  to  destroy  the 
village.  Close  to  the  bridge  by  the  side  of  the  river  which 
skirts  the  presbytery  and  schools  stood  an  imposing  building 
erected  in  1794  as  a  flour  mill.  It  was  subsequently  con- 
verted into  a  lumber  mill  which  gave  employment  to  a 
goodly  portion  of  the  village  folk.  Late  one  night  when  the 
people  had  retired,  the  old  sawmill  caught  fire.  No  one  gave 
the  alarm,  and  in  a  short  time  the  main  edifice,  a  six-story 
building,  was  ablaze. 

Something  mysterious  woke  me  up  from  sleep  just  as  the  clock 
was  chiming  midnight.  It  was  some  time  before  I  could  gather 
my  thoughts  together.  Then  I  noticed  a  curious  light,  palpitat- 
ing against  the  blind  of  my  northern  window.  I  thought  it  was  the 
moon;  but  instantly  I  remembered  that  the  moon  never  appears 
in  the  northern  horizon.  I  rose  and  raised  the  blind.  Across  the 
river,  and  not  two  hundred  yards  away,  the  mill,  built  as  a  flour 
mill,  years  before  American  competition  drove  Irish  flour  even 
from  Irish  markets,  was  on  fire.  Every  coign  and  crevice  was 
caught  in  the  flames,  which  leaped  through  seventy  windows  and 
reared  themselves  thirty  feet  above  the  roof.  I  could  feel  the  heat 
in  my  bedroom,  but  could  not  hear  a  sound.  The  wind  blew  from 
the  east,  and  carried  the  roar  of  the  conflagration  far  out  to  the 
west.  Not  a  soul  was  stirring  although  the  single  street  was 
lighted  as  if  by  a  hundred  electric  arcs. 

Brother  Mulhall  tells  us  how  the  Canon  roused  the  vil- 
lagers. It  was  no  easy  task.  They  slept  the  sleep  of  inno- 
cence and  exhaustion.  When  they  began  to  realize  their 
danger,  the  people  grew  alarmed,  and  justly  so,  for  half  the 
village  is  thatched,  and  nothing  could  have  saved  it  if  the 
wind  had  blown  from  the  north  or  west. 

Having  examined  the  condition  of  the  stables,  the  house 
and  church,  and  given  the  necessary  directions  for  the  safety 
of  the  property,  it  suddenly  dawned  on  the  Canon  that  the 
nuns  in  their  cloistered  dormitories  might  not  have  heard 


Chap.  II]  SHEPHERD  OF   HIS   FLOCK  297 

any  alarm,  and  so  might  be  entirely  unaware  of  the  danger 
to  which  they  were  exposed,  for  the  convent  lay  right  in 
the  track  of  the  burning  debris  that  was  flung  high  in  the 
air  from  the  seething  cauldron  beneath.  "We  could  see 
great  flakes  of  fire  falling  on  the  convent  roofs  and  lodging 
in  the  trees  around.  It  seemed  only  a  matter  of  minutes 
before  the  whole  building  would  be  wrapped  in  fire  and 
smoke."  After  much  knocking  at  the  convent  lodge  the 
nuns  were  aroused  and  found  refuge  in  the  garden  behind 
the  building.  Meanwhile  the  men  of  the  village  lent 
strong  and  willing  hands  to  help,  and  although  "they  had 
to  dodge  the  burning  flakes  of  slate  and  timber,  they  pre- 
vented danger  to  roof  and  trees."  Not  until  all  risk  was 
past  did  the  Canon  return  to  his  house.  From  twelve  to 
four  he  had  stayed  out  in  the  chill  air  to  see  that  no  harm 
befell  any  of  his  people. 

His  forethought  and  kindly  assistance  never  failed. 
Though  busy  not  only  during  the  hours  he  had  set  apart 
for  study  and  writing,  but  at  times  with  important  edu- 
cational and  political  aff"airs  upon  which  his  counsel  was 
requested,  he  never  lost  sight  for  an  instant  of  his  pastoral 
obligations.  A  call  to  the  sick,  a  demand  at  the  gate  from 
some  poor  woman,  or  even  from  a  tramp,  would  cause  him  to 
set  aside  the  most  important  business  of  a  purely  secular 
nature.  Charity  and  the  patience  and  forbearance  that  go 
with  it  was  his  besetting  weakness. 

He  was  the  first  to  establish  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
Society  in  his  district,  and  in  general  systematized  the 
care  for  the  needy,  especially  during  an  epidemic  or  when  the 
crops  had  failed  after  a  hard  winter.  We  have  already 
seen  that  he  made  over  to  the  Bishop,  by  will,  all  the  income 
of  his  books  (such  as  then  brought  a  royalty  to  him)  for  the 
benefit  of  indigent  and  disabled  priests;  and  subsequently 
he  gave  over  also  the  proceeds  of  his  later  publications  for 
the  poor  at  the  Bishop's  discretion.  Of  the  small  sum  which 
remained  to  him  at  his  death  he  bequeathed  100  pounds 
for  Masses  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  The  rest  he  divided 
between  the  St.   Vincent  de  Paul  Societies  of  Doneraile 


298        CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

and  Mallow.  Twenty  pounds  were  to  be  distributed  by  his 
successor  to  the  poor  of  Shanballymore  (in  the  outlying 
district  of  his  parish).  He  left  some  further  sums  for 
private  chapty,  and  directed  that  his  library  be  sold  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor  of  Doneraile.  His  Bishop,  who  was  one 
of  the  trustees,  was  not  satisfied  that  the  Canon  should 
deprive  himself  during  his  lifetime  of  the  disposition  of  his 
entire  income,  and  insisted  that  he  should  reserve  for  his 
needs  some  portion  of  the  funds  he  had  created.  He  later 
on  discovered  that  the  hundred  pounds  which  the  Canon 
had  accepted  was  used  to  increase  a  fund  established  to 
provide  cocoa  as  a  warm  morning  drink  for  the  poor  children 
in  one  of  his  schools.  In  all  his  benefactions  the  name  of  the 
donor  was  suppressed,  and  numberless  cases  of  his  provi- 
dent and  kindly  care,  of  which  no  one  had  suspected  him  to 
be  the  author,  were  revealed  only  after  his  death.  The 
trust  funds  which  he  had  at  first  meant  for  the  sick  clergy 
were,  with  his  consent,  subsequently  devoted  to  other  more 
pressing  needs. 

Seasons  of  general  rejoicing,  like  Christmas,  gave  him 
opportunities  for  the  exercise  of  special  charity.  "Many 
Doneraile  households,"  writes  Brother  Mulhall,  "owed 
their  hearty  Christmas  dinners,  cheerful  fires,  and  warm 
clothes  to  their  silent  pastor.  Frequently  he  arranged 
with  grocers  and  drapers  to  have  them  supply  the  poorer 
families  with  whatever  they  needed.  Invariably  it  was 
done  in  a  way  that  saved  the  recipients  from  the  stigma  of 
being  appHcants  for  alms.  They  were  either  engaged  to 
do  some  small  service  which  elicited  a  generous  return;  or 
they  were  made  to  beheve  that  their  credit  was  good,  and 
that  when  the  times  improved  they  would  be  expected  to 
repay  the  provisioners."  Only  after  his  death  did  many 
become  aware  of  the  mysterious  creator  of  numerous  local 
benefits. 

Indeed  he  himself  considered  that  he  was  the  people's 
real  debtor.  Being  their  shepherd,  he  was  fond  of  remind- 
ing himself  that  he  earned  untold  joys  from  their  docility, 
their  reverence  and  affection;  that  they  furnished  him  the 


Chap.  II]         SHEPHERD  OF   HIS   FLOCK  299 

material  for  much  of  what  he  wrote,  bringing  him  financial 
gain,  which  he  believed  really  belonged  to  them. 

He  never  repelled  a  beggar.  In  sooth  there  was  a  marked 
considerateness  in  his  treatment  of  the  poor,  which  had 
taught  his  housekeeper  never  to  dismiss  or  belittle  mendi- 
cants, no  matter  what  might  be  their  external  appearance. 
He  himself  gives  a  characteristic  instance  in  some  of  his 
notes  of  how  he  regarded  the  genus  "tramp." 

About  six  o'clock  the  evening  before  the  storm  a  tramp  came 
into  my  garden  when  I  was  reading.  My  servant  said :  A  gentle- 
man wanted  to  see  me?  So  I  said:  Send  him  up.  We  are  so 
polite  in  Ireland  that  every  one  is  a  gentleman  or  a  lady,  when 
they  are  not  noblemen.  I  saw  at  a  glance  at  his  boots  that  he 
was  a  tramp.  Now  I  Hke  tramps,  just  as  I  like  everything  plane- 
tary and  wandering.  It  is  because  I  am  such  a  precisionist  that  I 
could  not  sit  down  to  dinner  if  a  picture  was  hung  awry,  or  a  book 
misplaced  on  a  shelf,  that  I  love  irregularities  in  others.  A  piece 
of  torn  paper  on  my  carpet  will  give  me  a  fit  of  epilepsy;  but  I  can 
tranquilly  contemplate  the  chaos  of  another's  study,  and  even 
congratulate  him  on  his  splendid  nerves.  So  tramps,  comets, 
variable  stars,  wandering  lights  of  philosophy,  stars  of  the  outer 
darkness,  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  heaven  and  earth  —  I  have  a 
curious  sympathy  with  them  all,  as  fate  or  fortune  blows  them 
about  in  eccentric  orbits. 

This  wayfarer  told  me  that  he  was  from  my  native  town 
(which  was  a  lie),  that  he  was  a  tradesman  out  of  employment 
(which  was  another);  that  he  was  hungry  and  thirsty  (which  was 
half  and  half).  I  gave  him  sixpence  which  he  shortly  after  he 
left  me  transmuted  into  whiskey.  Then  he  lay  down  under  an 
open  archway,  and  slept  all  through  a  terrific  storm.  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  the  electric  fluid  shot  through  that  open  arch 
again  and  again,  during  the  night;  but  the  Eudaemon  who  pre- 
sides over  drunken  people  warded  off"  the  bolts.  He  woke  the  next 
morning,  stiff  but  sound  and  whole;  and  was  utterly  amazed  at 
the  universal  consternation  around  him.  And  there  are  people 
in  this  world  still  who  say  that  drink  is  an  unmitigated  evil. 

The  Canon  used  to  tell  of  a  beggar,  one  of  the  incor- 
rigibles  on  his  staff,  who,  though  not  of  the  parish,  was  in 
the  habit  of  calling  at  more  or  less  frequent  intervals  at  the 


300      CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

rectory,  and  never  in  vain.  It  was  many  years  since  Tim 
had  joined  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed,  too  fond  of  his 
"drop  of  the  crathure."  On  one  of  his  visits,  as  the  recluse 
of  Doneraile  would  tell  the  tale,  when  the  "materials" 
were  a  mixing  "for  the  sup  that  would  give  me  a  little 
stringth  in  me  legs  against  the  hill  on  the  way  home," 
the  beneficiary  made  a  grimace  as  he  noted  the  stinting  of 
the  principal  ingredient  in  the  decoction.  Without  reveal- 
ing his  disappointment  by  any  sign  he  accepted  the  glass 
very  politely,  took  a  modest  draught,  and  in  a  matter-of- 
fact  tone  asked  whether  the  whisky  had  not  been  inad- 
vertently forgotten.  No,  the  ingredients  were  all  there,  he 
was  assured.  Taking  a  second  and  a  third  sip,  Tim  paused, 
eyed  the  glass  quizzically,  and  as  he  poised  it  for  the  final 
up-ending,  remarked  sententiously:  "Well  I  wouldn't  mis- 
doubt yer  Riverence.     Maybe  I'll  meet  it  at  the  ind." 

Although  he  appeared  to  humor  begging  tramps,  the 
Canon  did  not  merely  satisfy  his  sympathies  by  giving 
them  "sixpence."  He  often  made  friends  of  them,  got 
their  real  story  and  confidence,  and  was  in  many  cases 
able  to  help  them  to  better  things.  It  was  not  his  way 
to  reproach  or  preach  to  them  out  of  church. 

S.  R.  Lysaght,  the  Irish  poet,  who  knew  Canon  Sheehan 
intimately  during  the  later  years  of  his  life  whilst  he  himself 
lived  at  Doneraile,  writes  of  him:  "One  of  the  most  remark- 
able characteristics  of  Canon  Sheehan  was  his  genius  for 
sympathy.  This  was  so  comprehensive  that  it  gave  him 
influence  and  won  him  affection  among  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  people." 

The  charity  that  seemed  to  control  all  his  doings  was 
apparent  also  in  his  ordinary  conversation.  He  had  a  keen 
insight  into  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature.  This  made 
him  alive  to  the  foibles  and  faults  of  character  and  dis- 
position in  others.  But  it  also  taught  him  the  art  of  self- 
examination  and  self-correction,  and  made  him  ingenious 
in  finding  kindly  interpretations  of  the  motives  that  actuated 
others,  and  of  the  circumstances  which  might  have  proved 
a  peculiar  temptation  to  them.     He  never  permitted  him- 


Chap.  II]  SHEPHERD  OF   HIS   FLOCK  301 

self  to  gossip,  or  to  elicit  idle  comment  on  the  doings  of 
his  fellows,  whether  priests  or  laymen,  and  he  appeared  to 
have  cultivated  a  special  talent  for  converting  into  favor- 
able comment  the  harsh  judgments  of  those  who  were 
disposed  to  be  critical. 

Wholly  in  keeping  with  this  intelligent  spirit  of  charity 
was  his  tolerance  of  the  opinions  of  others.  Without  ever 
countenancing  error  or  sin,  he  felt  only  compassion  for  those 
in  whom  he  found  these  irregularities.  His  habitual  for- 
bearance gained  many  who  would  have  been  opposed  to  him 
on  account  of  his  religious  profession  or  his  political  con- 
victions. His  gentleness  caused  those  who  were  prejudiced 
to  listen  to  him,  and  thus  to  abandon  their  hostile  attitude. 
His  habitual  gentleness,  seemingly  incompatible  with  the 
strong  impulses  of  his  native  temperament,  was  undoubtedly 
the  result  of  much  reflection  and  self-training.  His  very 
humility,  enlightened  and  unaffected  as  it  was,  induced 
others  to  yield  their  judgment  to  his,  and  to  allow  him  to 
direct  their  actions.  One  felt  absolutely  safe  under  his 
guidance,  knowing  that  he  regarded  the  interests  of  others 
as  a  sacred  trust  that  was  to  take  precedence  of  any  advan- 
tage for  himself.  The  nuns  used  to  say  that  his  presence 
was  like  the  spring  sun;  you  felt  its  Hghtsome  and  warm 
atmosphere,  knowing  that  it  was  making  things  grow  even 
when  you  did  not  see  it.  He  had  learned  the  trick  of  laboring 
cheerfully  for  others  without  waiting  for  acknowledgment 
or  return. 

Whilst  the  dominant  note  of  all  his  actions  was  that  of 
meekness,  there  was  no  lack  of  either  decision  or  deliberation 
in  them.  He  was  not  in  the  least  sentimental.  He  never 
gave  a  judgment  in  cases  of  complaint  involving  accusation 
of  any  person,  without  having  heard  both  sides  and  examined 
all  the  details  of  the  charge.  It  did  not  make  any  difference 
whether  those  who  lodged  the  charge  were  Catholics  or 
Protestants,  whether  they  held  one  political  opinion  or 
another.  He  simply  tested  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  when 
his  verdict  came  it  was  unhesitating.  People  did  not 
question  his  wisdom,  and  if  there  was  any  wounded  feeling 


302       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE       [Part  III 

the  Canon,  by  a  happy  way  of  emphasizing  the  humorous 
aspect  of  a  situation,  knew  how  to  soothe  it. 

A    PRACTICAL    GUIDE 

One  of  Canon  Sheehan's  earhest  critics  had  charged  him 
as  a  writer  with  being  unpractical,  a  theorist  who,  however 
plausible  and  briUiant  in  his  presentation  of  the  ills  that 
afflict  his  country,  utterly  fails  in  suggesting  any  definite 
remedy,  or  even  showing  a  willingness  to  do  aught  for  their 
removal. 

He  has  looked  with  a  more  intuitive  glance,  and  has  seen  deeper 
into  the  elusive  nature  of  the  Celt,  and  of  that  variety  of  the  race 
that  flourishes  in  his  native  land,  than  almost  any  other  man  of 
his  time.  He  has  caught,  as  it  were  in  snapshots,  phases  of  its 
life  that  had  never  yet  been  secured  by  any  other  artist  .  .  .  and 
yet  he  has  been  for  the  most  part  a  psychologist  who  has  noted 
the  phenomena,  but  has  done  little  to  indicate  their  value  ...  It 
would  not,  we  admit,  be  consonant  with  the  principles  of  his  art, 
that  he  should  undertake  the  work  of  a  benevolent  society  or  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  but  at  least  we  might  expect  him 
to  direct  to  those  complicated  problems  of  life,  so  lightly  skimmed 
over  in  his  book,  some  share  of  that  attention  which  he  represents 
as  distracted  by  futilities  and  wasted  in  fruitless  speculation. 
He  might  have  helped  to  make  his  countrymen  conscious  of  the 
forces  which  their  carelessness  has  left  to  slumber  in  such  un- 
productive lethargy.  He  might  have  shown  them,  under  the 
concentrated  light  of  his  own  intelligence,  the  results  of  their 
waywardness  and  caprice.  He  might  have  pointed  to  some  exit 
from  the  maze,  in  which  their  energies  seem  fettered.  He  has 
preferred  to  remain  a  passive  moralist.^ 

Apart  from  the  fact  that  Father  Sheehan's  criticisms 
of  educational  and  economic  neglects  carry  with  them,  for 
the  most  part,  suggestions  for  their  remedy,  or  at  least  of  the 
sources  where  such  remedies  are  to  be  found,  it  is  entirely 
untrue  that  he  speaks  as  one  who  prefers  to  remain  the 
passive  morahst.  Even  as  curate  he  sought  to  remedy, 
as  far  as  his  opportunities  and  experiences  warranted,  what 

^  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  Vol.  XI,  1902,  p.  156. 


Chap.  II]  SHEPHERD  OF   HIS  FLOCK  303 

he  believed  needed  correction  or  attention.  In  his  novels 
he  not  only  makes  his  characters  represent  ideals  and  theo- 
ries, but  he  records  their  eflForts  to  realize  them,  and  often 
their  failures  as  well.  His  stories  are  not  a  series  of  doc- 
trinaire essays,  but  a  symposium  in  which  the  views  of  the 
enthusiastic  and  untried  curate  are  examined  without  bias, 
and  commented  upon  by  way  of  correction,  mostly  by  older 
and  experienced  men. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  judgment  formed  of  Canon 
Sheehan's  writings,  we  clearly  learn  from  his  career  as  parish 
priest  of  Doneraile  what  he  accomplished  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  home  conditions.  His  daily  life  was  but  a  verification 
of  the  principles  which  are  represented  in  the  characters  he 
portrays  as  models  of  priestly  and  pastoral  zeal.  Fathers 
Aidan,  Costello,  Bellamy,  Dr.  Gray,  Daddy  Dan,  as  well 
as  Letheby  and  Luke  Delmege,  in  one  form  or  another, 
reflect  the  work  of  the  good  shepherd  under  difficulties  that 
will  always  beset  its  realization.  We  see  their  virtues  and 
their  foibles,  their  impossible  ideals  and  their  actual  achieve- 
ments, their  failures  and  disappointments  in  the  midst 
of  their  pastoral  labors.  The  greater  part  of  these  images 
of  *'real  life"  was  the  reflection  of  his  own  correcting  and 
chastening  experience.  All  through  his  ministry  he  may  be 
said  to  have  striven  to  carry  out,  to  the  full  extent  of  his 
ability,  and  beyond  the  measure  of  the  opportunities  given 
to  most  pastors,  the  aims  which  he  has  sketched  for  us  in 
his  writings.  As  a  true  guardian  of  his  flock  he  felt  that  he 
should  not  confine  his  eff"orts  to  the  administering  of  the 
sacraments,  to  preaching  and  teaching,  to  visiting  the  sick 
and  relieving  the  poor,  to  decorating  his  church,  and  enhanc- 
ing the  divine  worship  for  the  edification  of  his  parishioners. 
He  did  all  this.  But  he  did  much  more.  He  looked  after, 
and  defended,  the  temporal  interests  of  his  people,  the  public 
good  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  and  labored 
conscientiously  as  a  spiritual  guide  and  pastor  of  souls. 


Ill 

THE     LAND    PURCHASE    ACT 

IN  1903  the  Wyndham  Act  had  opened  for  Ireland  the 
first  definite  prospect  of  a  concihation  between  ten- 
ant and  landlord.  It  offered  to  the  latter  a  fair  price 
in  actual  money  for  his  lands,  to  be  advanced  by  the  Goverji- 
ment,  and  it  allowed  the  tenant,  under  the  title  thus  secured, 
to  purchase  farm  and  house  by  simply  continuing  the 
payment  of  rent  to  the  appointed  State  agent  for  a  definite 
time.  For  generations  the  tenants  had  been  without  any 
encouragement  to  improve  their  holdings.  Hence  the 
people,  seeing  no  prospect  of  bettering  their  lot  or  that  of 
their  children,  allowed  the  young  folk  to  go  abroad  to 
America  or  to  Australia.  If  they  had  not  the  means  for  the 
long  journey,  they  went  to  nearby  cities  —  Dublin,  Liver- 
pool, London  —  where  they  might  earn  their  bread  without 
fear  of  eviction  whenever  the  harvest  happened  to  go 
against  them  and  they  were  unable  to  pay  the  rent.  Often 
enough  they  left  the  old  homestead  at  the  risk  of  losing  the 
faith  that  had  sustained  their  fathers  under  trials,  and  of 
breaking  the  bonds  of  affection  that  had  tied  them  to  the 
motherland. 

But  now  there  was  offered  an  opportunity  to  them  to 
become  owners  of  the  soil  which  hitherto  they  had  tilled 
for  others.  They  would  still  have  to  pay  the  rent  as  hereto- 
fore. But  it  would  be  applied  as  purchase  money,  so  that 
the  next  generation,  after  the  lapse  of  about  twenty  years, 
would  obtain  from  the  Government  a  clear  title  of  owner- 
ship. The  proposal  opened  up  splendid  prospects  for  those 
who  were  willing  to  work  on  the  farms.  If  they  improved 
the  land,  the  benefit  was  their  own;  and  thus  a  sense  of 
responsibility,  a  spirit  of  thrift,  and  an  incentive  to  industry, 
for  their  own  homestead,  would  be  gradually  developed. 

304 


Chap.  Ill]         THE  LAND   PURCHASE  ACT  305 

Moreover,  the  feeling  of  ownership  would  raise  the  self- 
respect  of  the  people,  always  proud,  and  yet  often  forced 
into  servility  by  land  agents  who  in  the  name  of  Sovereign 
Domain  had  power  to  starve  them  and  their  wives  and 
children.  With  the  sense  of  self-respect  and  of  local  freedom, 
with  the  habit  of  thrift  and  industry,  and  a  hearth  of  their 
own,  developed  among  the  laboring  classes,  it  was  possible 
to  build  up  a  prosperous  Ireland. 

There  were  several  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  Land 
Purchase  Act.  One  was  the  attitude  of  the  landlords. 
Many  of  them  were  not  disposed  to  sell  on  the  conditions 
proposed;  others  were  willing  to  do  so  only  after  certain 
arrears  of  rents  had  been  settled  in  full.  In  some  cases 
difficulties  were  raised  by  the  tenants,  who,  feeling  that 
public  opinion  as  well  as  the  Government  were  coming 
to  their  aid,  began  to  assert  their  ancient  grudges  against 
the  proprietors  of  the  land  and  were  disposed  to  reject 
any  equitable  compromise.  Both  parties  in  many  cases 
harbored  feelings  of  distrust,  if  not  of  hatred,  begotten  of 
national  as  well  as  religious  antipathy. 

The  chief  difficulty  was  to  bring  these  men  together,  to 
make  them  see  that  it  was  to  their  mutual  advantage  to 
reach  a  peaceable  settlement,  and  to  subdue  the  pride  of 
position  and  race  that  separated  them. 

As  a  first  step  to  success  in  the  attempt  to  create  an 
understanding,  Father  Sheehan  gathered,  as  we  have 
seen,  his  people  round  him  on  Sunday  afternoons.  He 
explained  to  them  the  situation  and  all  that  was  involved 
in  their  accepting  the  proposed  government  scheme.  That 
plan  he  had  carefully  studied.  He  had  consulted  the  men 
who  could  advise  him  in  the  matter  —  lawyers,  and  dis- 
interested landowners  who  had  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  farms  in  the  district.  He  had  likewise  sounded 
the  disposition  of  his  men;  the  temper  of  those  who  were 
likely  to  have  a  leading  voice,  or  to  exercise  control  over  the 
others.  He  knew  the  capacity  in  labor,  stock,  money, 
of  each  farmer  who  had  a  purchase  right. 

With  what  consummate  prudence  and  patience  he  acted 


3o6        CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

throughout  is  evident  from  the  account  of  the  proceedings. 
Of  these  we  happen  to  have  full  details  by  one  of  the  principal 
tenants.  He  tells  of  how  the  Canon  first  sought  out  the 
natural  leaders  among  the  farmers;  the  men  who  were 
influential,  and  those  who  were  headstrong  or  likely  to  divert 
from  its  purpose  any  argument  that  did  not  appeal  to  their 
personal  interest  or  flatter  their  vanity.  Avoiding  every 
appearance  of  dictation,  the  Canon  merely  consulted  them; 
got  them  to  state  their  views  and  formulate  their  wishes 
and  expectations.  Next  he  drew  from  the  spokesmen 
among  them  concessions  of  what  would  be  best  for  all. 
Thus  he  caused  them  to  unite  with  seeming  spontaneity 
on  some  project  or  proposition  formulated  by  him  in  their 
name.  Indeed  he  never  failed  to  insist  on  their  acting  in 
this  matter  with  their  own  full  conviction,  and  as  it  were 
independently  of  him.  Finally  he  showed  them,  now  that 
they  had  agreed  upon  a  plan  beneficial  to  all,  how  necessary 
it  was  that  they  should  adhere  to  it;  that  they  should  not 
let  their  temper  interfere  with  the  success  of  the  proposed 
course,  and  that  unity  of  purpose  and  coordination  of 
methods  were  essential  while  they  were  working  hand  in 
hand  to  attain  their  end.  He  pictured  to  them  in  glowing 
words  what  success  in  this  case  meant  to  them,  to  their 
children,  and  to  the  community.  He  roused  their  national 
and  local  pride  by  pointing  out  to  them  that  they  were 
pioneers  in  the  good  work;  that  others  throughout  Ireland 
would  follow  their  example;  how  they  were  destined  to 
bring  comfort  and  prosperity  to  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
and  what  it  all  meant  for  the  hastening  of  Home  Rule. 

In  spite  of  all  the  Canon's  precautions,  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  conferences  gave  trouble.  One  of  the  first  meet- 
ings arranged,  after  a  considerable  amount  of  correspondence 
between  Canon  Sheehan,  as  representative  of  the  tenants, 
and  the  principal  landowners,  took  place  at  the  presbytery. 
The  attorneys  had  previously  stipulated  that  nothing  could 
be  done  until  the  farmers  who  were  in  arrears  of  rent  had 
agreed  to  pay  their  dues  in  full.  Eventually  sundry  reduc- 
tions and  compromises  which   had   been  proposed  by  the 


Chap.  Ill]  THE  LAND   PURCHASE  ACT  307 

Canon  were  agreed  to  in  writing.  One  of  the  landlords  of  the 
district,  being  absent  on  account  of  indisposition,  appointed 
his  son  to  act  as  his  representative  in  a  final  settlement. 
When  the  day  of  the  meeting  had  come,  and  the  men  had 
assembled  at  Bridge  House,  the  Canon  briefly  stated  the  pur- 
pose of  the  meeting.  He  outlined  the  conditions  thus  far 
agreed  upon,  and  the  willingness  of  the  farmers  to  abide  by 
them,  provided  they  received  guarantees,  then  and  there,  that 
they  should  obtain  a  transfer  of  title  to  the  land  then  held 
by  them  on  rental.  "But,"  said  the  Canon  in  his  clear,  in- 
cisive way,  "these  men  are  not  satisfied  with  promises. 
They  want  definite  assurance  and  a  signed  title,  to  guarantee 
their  ownership."  It  was  understood  that  failure  to  fulfil 
the  contract  meant  forfeiture  of  the  title.  He  then  asked 
the  agent  to  signify  his  compliance  on  behalf  of  the  landlord. 
"Sir,"  said  the  latter,  "neither  I,  nor  my  father,  will  be 
dictated  to  by  the  priests  here.  We  shall  arrange  with  the 
men  who  are  our  tenants,  directly."  The  Canon  stood  up, 
bowed,  and  left  the  room. 

One  of  the  farmers  arose  and  said  in  a  somewhat  excited 
manner:  "We  will  act  either  through  the  Canon,  our 
representative,  or  not  all,  Sir."  Thereupon  the  landlord's 
son  went  away  without  making  any  settlement.  One  of 
the  men  present,  who  was  back  in  his  rent  for  several  years, 
and  who  had  agreed  to  pay  every  farthing  of  it,  before 
claiming  the  right  of  purchase,  made  a  solemn  pledge  that 
never,  as  long  as  he  lived,  would  he  pay  a  penny  of  rent, 
and  that  he  would  resist  eviction  with  every  means  in  his 
power.  He  hoped  that  God  would  forgive  him  and  that 
the  law  would  protect  him  and  his  children  from  the  poor 
house. 

The  discussion  seemed  to  all  appearances  at  an  end.  But 
the  Canon  pursued  the  subject.  Eventually  he  brought 
his  people  to  see  that  they  must  yield  for  the  moment; 
must  keep  their  temper  in  check.  The  man  who  had 
registered  his  oath  would  not  go  back,  whereas  the  landlord 
insisted  on  the  payment  of  arrears.  Somehow  the  Canon 
arranged  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  latter  while  leaving 


3o8       CANON   SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE     [Part  III 

the  delinquent  farmer  under  the  impression  that  the  arrears 
had  been  remitted.     Thus  things  were  finally  settled. 

The  contest  lasted  four  years,  from  1903  to  1907.  The 
records  present  an  interesting  study  of  human  frailty  and 
human  shrewdness;  but  they  also  point  to  the  beginning 
of  a  new  era  for  the  town  of  Doneraile  and  the  people  of  the 
parish.  The  peace  that  grew  out  of  the  struggle  created 
everywhere  in  the  district  happy  homes,  and  brought  forth 
increased  industry  and  new  prospects  of  prosperity. 

"We  can  now  work  at  their  education";  said  Canon 
Sheehan,  when  relating  these  things  to  the  writer  some 
years  after.  "Hitherto  our  preaching  was  to  make  our 
people  patient  under  their  insufferable  hardships,  because 
they  might  hope  in  God's  mercy.  Now  we  can  exhort 
them  to  gratitude,  and  they  feel  the  joy  of  being  Christians." 

Having  secured  freeholds  for  the  tenants  of  his  parish. 
Canon  Sheehan  exercised  his  influence  in  improving  its 
communal  interests.  His  authority  was  being  more  and 
more  recognized  by  the  leading  men  and  officials  of  the 
district,  and,  being  consulted  in  all  matters  of  public  interest, 
he  became  instrumental  in  introducing  an  electric  Hghting 
plant,  installed  at  the  mill,  for  the  people  of  the  town  and 
for  Doneraile  Court,  The  power-house  also  contains  the 
machinery  for  pumping  water  from  a  spring  near  the  river 
to  a  reservoir  on  the  rocky  upland  above  the  town.  Thus 
all  the  houses  receive  a  plentiful  supply  of  fresh  water,  and 
it  is  no  longer  necessary  for  the  householders  to  resort  to 
the  stream  or  the  public  pump.  This  arrangement  has  had 
a  good  effect  not  only  on  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the 
place,  but  on  bringing  about  a  sense  of  cleanhness  and 
tidiness,  not  to  speak  of  the  comfort  to  the  aged  and  sick, 
and  a  marked  change  for  the  better  in  the  manner  of  domestic 
and  pubhc  living.  The  village  has  a  postal  and  telegraph 
service  and  a  branch  office  of  the  National  Bank. 

As  a  result  of  these  modern  improvements  the  material 
conditions  of  the  people  were  greatly  advanced.  Their 
houses  became  models  of  home  comfort.  The  sidewalks 
of  the  streets  were  flagged  or  laid  in  concrete,  the  gardens 


Chap.  Ill]  THE  LAND  PURCHASE  ACT  309 

and  farms  properly  fenced,  avenues  planted  with  trees,  and 
so  the  value  of  most  of  the  properties  was  increased. 

In  speaking  of  the  general  betterment  in  the  communal 
life  of  Doneraile  and  the  countryside  around,  we  have  to 
state  that  Canon  Sheehan  found  continuous  and  strong 
support  in  the  proprietors  of  Doneraile  Castle,  Lord  and 
Lady  Castletown.  They  had  marked  the  action  of  the 
priest  from  the  beginning,  and  though  not  of  his  faith, 
they  were  naturally  interested  in  his  management  of  their 
tenants.  Lady  Castletown's  family,  the  Viscounts  of 
Doneraile,  ^  had  Hved  on  the  estate  for  several  centuries. 
Her  husband.  Baron  Fitzpatrick,  descended  from  the  Irish 
Clan  M'Gillaphaddring,  former  kings  of  Ossory,  is  a  man 
of  large  affairs  who  has  traveled  far  and  wide  in  America 
and  Europe,  besides  having  seen  service  in  two  African 
campaigns  as  an  officer  in  the  British  Army.  He  was  soon 
attracted  to  this  Catholic  priest,  whose  conciliatory  temper, 
wise  management  of  his  parish,  and  love  of  his  people 
were  enhanced  by  a  degree  of  culture,  eloquence,  and  an 
ability  as  a  writer  unusual  even  among  the  clergy. 

Though  a  Liberal  Unionist  in  politics.  Lord  Castletown 
understood  that  the  Canon's  stand  for  mutual  concession 
as  the  only  practical  solution  of  the  Home  Rule  and  agrarian 
questions  was  for  the  benefit  of  both  landlord  and  tenant. 
He  had  spent  many  of  his  years  in  Ireland,  and  had  met  with 
the  vicissitudes  that  taught  him  the  wisdom  of  yielding 
to  circumstances.  Moreover  he  was  a  scholar,  interested 
in  educational  progress,  an  Eton  and  Oxford  man,  who  on 
his  very  first  visit  to  the  parish  priest's  house  found  there 
the  congenial  atmosphere  of  the  student's  home.  Here 
was  a  clergyman  of  the  people  with  whom  he  could  discuss 
not  merely  religion  and  politics,  but  the  literature  of  the  day, 
the  value  of  local  antiquarian  discoveries  which  archeolo- 
gists  like  Usher  were  setting  forth  in  the  scientific  journals. 
Thus  in  time  these  two  men  contracted  an  intimacy  of 
which  Lord  Castletown  speaks  with  much  feeling.     He  has 

*  Lady  Castletown  is  the  Hon.  Ursula  Emily  Clare  St.  Leger,  daughter  of  the 
fourth  Viscount  of  Doneraile. 


3IO       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE      [Part  III 

given  us  an  appreciation  of  the  Canon  which,  considering 
its  unprejudiced  source,  is  all  the  more  acceptable. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Canon  Sheehan's  pastoral  discre- 
tion, that,  despite  his  close  relations  to  the  Castletowns, 
he  rarely  visited  their  house.  His  daily  rounds  were  almost 
invariably  confined  to  the  church  and  schools.  The  rest  of 
his  time  was  given  exclusively  to  the  poor  or  sick.  But 
Lord  Castletown,  as  lord  of  the  manor,  comprising  some 
twenty  thousand  acres,  had  frequent  occasion  in  the  interests 
of  his  estate  to  call  upon  the  priest.  These  visits  were 
fruitful  of  many  benefits  to  the  people  of  the  little  town  and 
the  district.  If  some  of  the  landlords  made  difficulties 
which  delayed  the  Canon's  benevolent  designs  to  have  his 
people  avail  themselves  of  the  Wyndham  Purchase  Act, 
Lord  Castletown  was  not  one  of  them.  Indeed  he  greatly 
aided  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  transfer. 

Both  men  took  a  personal  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Gaelic 
League  started  by  their  mutual  friend.  Dr.  Douglas  Hyde. 
They  went  together  to  address  and  assist  the  local  **Feis," 
as  the  meetings  were  called,  and  Lord  Castletown  com- 
ments in  glowing  terms  on  the  lucid  and  eloquent  speeches 
made  by  the  Canon  on  these  occasions.  He  speaks  of  the 
esteem  in  which  the  priest  was  held  "by  all  the  surrounding 
gentry,  both  Protestant  and  Catholic,"  and  tells  how  he 
frequently  heard  people  of  all  classes  say,  "Oh,  we  shall 
take  the  matter  to  the  Canon;  he  will  settle  it  to  the  best 
advantage  of  all  concerned." 

Lord  Castletown  writes:  "Strangers,  good  judges  of  the 
best  type  of  mind,  who  have  staid  with  us  and  met  him, 
told  me  how  much  they  were  impressed  with  his  extra- 
ordinary lucidity  in  conversation.  Any  subject  incidentally 
discussed  between  them  was  apt  to  call  forth  his  gift 
of  illustration,  indicating  a  vast  store  of  accurate  knowledge 
in  the  varied  fields  of  letters,  the  sciences,  and  arts.  I  was 
never  so  struck  by  this  attribute  of  his  remarkable  mind 
than  toward  the  close  of  his  life.  I  saw  him  within  three 
weeks  of  his  death,  and  found  him  most  clear  and  accurate 
in  the  expression  of  his  thought.     He  was  quite  aware  of  his 


Chap.  Ill]  THE    LAND    PURCHASE   ACT  311 

impending  death  at  the  time  of  his  grave  illness,  but  he  con- 
tinued to  work  to  the  end.  In  the  intimate  talks  I  had 
with  him  he  showed  me  how  well  prepared  he  was  for 
the  great  change  he  was  calmly  facing.  His  was  certainly- 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  natures  I  have  ever  been  privileged 
to  meet." 

The  nobleman  dwells  on  the  Canon's  modesty,  his  retire- 
ment and  shyness  of  pubHc  approval,  and  his  natural 
delicacy  in  all  that  concerned  his  intercourse  with  his  own 
people  or  friends.  He  speaks  further  of  the  Canon's  exquis- 
ite taste  and  the  keen  interest  he  evinced  in  matters  of  Irish 
folklore  and  music.  Of  course  the  neighboring  gentry 
appreciated  his  books,  not  merely  for  the  fidehty  with  which 
they  sketched  local  peculiarities,  but  also  for  the  elevated 
thought  and  erudition  of  which  they  gave  evidence.  If 
Canon  Sheehan  did  not  readily  make  his  appearance  in  the 
houses  of  the  great,  he  nevertheless  carefully  observed  the 
urbanities  looked  for  in  one  of  his  position,  and  which 
were  sure  to  aid  him  in  the  more  effective  accomplishment 
of  his  ministry.  His  books  gave  him  the  opportunity 
of  showing  his  appreciation  of  such  assistance.  Thus  he 
writes  to  Lady  Castletown  on  occasion  of  the  appearance 
of  Parerga: 

Dear  Lady  Castletown, 

May  I  ask  your  acceptance  of  this  the  latest  volume  I  have 
put  into  the  literary  market.?  It  is  a  series  of  disquisitions  on  things 
in  general,  ranging  from  little  incidents  in  our  village  up  to  Shaks- 
peare  and  beyond.  I  have  marked  two  passages  —  one  a  reference 
to  the  House  of  Lords  and  Lord  Rosebery  —  the  other  referring 
to  Mr.  Usher  whom  I  have  canonized  —  which  will  give  you  a 
key  to  the  whole  book.  In  the  hope  that  it  may  help  your  Lady- 
ship to  pass  a  pleasant  hour, 

I  remain  very  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan,  P.P. 

The  friends  whom  the  Canon  made  in  this  way  remained 
true  to  him  during  all  the  years  of  his  life  at  Doneraile, 
and  must  have  been  a  source  of  blessing  to  his  people  as 
well  as  consolation  to  the  priest  himself.     "As  for  myself," 


312       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE      [Part  III 

writes  Lord  Castletown,  "I  have  never  ceased  to  grieve 
(since  his  death)  for  the  departure  to  his  home  of  one  who 
was  my  kindest  counselor  and  intimate  friend.  He  was, 
as  one  of  the  poor  people  said,  'a  saint  on  earth,'  and  I  am 
sure  he  is  now  'a  saint  in  heaven.'" 


IV 

THE    canon's     political    INFLUENCE 

WHILST  Canon  Sheehan's  accurate  and  graphic 
pictures  of  domestic  and  pastoral  life  were  gener- 
ally regarded  as  aiming  at  lifting  popular  effort 
to  a  higher  level  of  religious,  civic  and  national  virtue,  it 
was  not  expected  that  this  poet  and  painter  of  exquisite 
genre  pictures  and  still  life,  this  country  priest  with  his 
dread  of  popular  demonstration  and  of  newspaper  publicity, 
should  take  an  active  part  in  the  political  agitation  of  his 
countrymen.  At  most  it  might  be  assumed  that  he  would 
express  his  opinion,  when  occasion  offered,  concerning  the 
political  measures  taken  by  the  Government  or  the  attempts 
of  popular  agitators  to  sway  the  mind  of  the  public.  Few 
men,  outside  his  intimates,  knew  that  he  was  actually  a 
political  leader  —  unseen  and  unnamed,  yet  withal  powerful 
and  ever  watchfully  active.  It  may  be  safely  asserted 
that  as  a  silent  organizer  of  constructive  forces  —  literary, 
educational,  and  industrial  —  he  exercised  an  influence  that 
cannot  easily  be  measured  by  conventional  standards. 

Those  who  knew  have  said  of  him,  since  his  death,  that 
he  did  more  to  mold  public  opinion,  through  personal 
influence  over  certain  Irish  members  of  Parliament,  than 
was  effected  by  plans  of  campaign  and  conferences  in  the 
councils  of  the  chiefs.  After  the  Parnell  collapse  he  clearly 
saw  the  difficulties  that  must  arise  from  the  variable  temper 
of  factions  whose  attitude  was  rendered  irreconcilable, 
because  they  apparently  forgot  the  purpose  of  their  contest 
in  discussing  the  means  by  which  to  reach  it.  Canon 
Sheehan,  in  his  isolated  altitude,  was  free  from  the  bias 
begotten  of  local  affection  and  personal  interests.  He 
realized  the  danger  which  confronted  men,  no  matter  how 
zealous  in  their  love  of  their  country,  however  wise  and 

313 


314       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE      [Part  III 

courageous  they  were,  who  were  lacking  in  that  harmony 
which  in  a  crisis  called  for  the  sacrifice  of  unimportant 
points  of  preferences.  To  these  men  he  showed  the  dis- 
astrous effects,  and  the  resultant  waste  of  energy,  of  insistence 
upon  comparatively  slight  differences;  and  he  was  listened 
to  because  he  spoke  as  one  careless  of  personal  appreciation. 
For  the  most  part,  his  influence  was  exercised  by  corres- 
pondence, by  writing  for  the  public  journals,  and  through 
friends,  like  William  O'Brien,  M.P.,  and  other  men  whose 
ardent  patriotism,  he  knew,  kept  them  outside  the  official 
party  that  stood  for  emancipation.  The  Member  of 
Parliament  for  Cork  has  left  us  a  memorandum  of  Canon 
Sheehan's  part  in  the  national  struggle  of  his  countrymen: 

The  Canon's  work  was  that  of  a  patriot,  not  of  a  politician. 
He  was  one  of  the  few  far-seeing  Irishmen  who  realized  all  the 
possibilities  of  the  Policy  of  Conciliation,  inaugurated  in  1902 
under  the  Chief  Secretaryship  of  Mr.  George  Wyndham.  The 
first  notable  achievement  of  that  policy  was  the  Land  Conference, 
composed  of  the  joint  representatives  of  landlords  and  tenants 
whose  report  was  the  basis  of  the  great  Land-purchase  Act  of  1903. 
By  this  measure  the  ownership  of  three  fourths  of  the  soil  of  Ire- 
land was  transferred  peacefully  from  the  landlords  to  the  culti- 
vators by  means  of  temporary  annual  payments.  The  transaction 
was  effected  by  advances  from  the  Imperial  Treasury.  The  evicted 
tenants  were  under  the  same  agreement  restored  to  their  holdings. 

Those  who  had  solved  the  agrarian  difficulty  proposed  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  crowning  settlement  of  the  Home  Rule  problem  by  a 
similar  method  of  Conferences,  Conciliation  and  Consent. 

How  wholeheartedly  Canon  Sheehan  sympathized  with 
this  policy  of  national  appeasement  is  abundantly  testified 
by  a  paper  of  his  in  the  English  Fortnightly  Review  of 
December,  1910,  in  which  he  comments  upon  Mr.  O'Brien's 
book  An  Olive  Branch  in  Ireland,  and  its  History.  After 
dwelling  on  the  true  character  and  strength  of  Parnell,  his 
final  mistake,  and  his  efforts  to  regain  his  old  ascendancy, 
but  for  the  loss  of  which  he  might  have  saved  the  nation 
from  the  present  delay  in  attaining  the  advantages  of 
absolute  Home  Rule,  he  writes: 


Chap.  IV]  THE  CANON'S   POLITICAL  INFLUENCE   315 

We  have  always  thought  that  the  democracy  of  Ireland  has 
never  realized  its  power  or  responsibility.  It  is  too  easily  inflamed. 
The  national  fierte  has  a  tendency  to  break  away  from  the  cool 
dictates  of  enlightened  patriotism,  and  attach  itself  with  a  kind 
of  fury  to  some  individual  whose  person  or  whose  character  appeals 
to  the  imagination  by  its  picturesqueness.  That  cool  calculating 
determination  that  sees  clearly  what  it  aims  at,  and  makes  every 
person  and  every  circumstance  subserve  that  aim;  that  moves 
slowly  but  invincibly  towards  its  object,  gaining  vantage  ground 
everywhere,  and  never  allowing  itself  to  swerve  aside  through 
enthusiasm  for  an  individual;  that  places  principles  before  persons, 
and  great  ideals  before  passing  emotions,  is  wanting  to  our  national 
character .  .  . 

He  mentions  the  famous  letter  from  Galway  dated 
September  2,  1902,  which  gave  the  keynote  of  a  policy 
that  has  since  then  grown  and  expanded  into  almost  universal 
acceptance,  and  which  promises  to  be  the  one  political 
principle  on  which  the  Irish  question  shall  ultimately 
be  settled.  What  he  calls  the  "historical  sentence"  in  that 
letter,  reads: 

In  the  best  interests,  therefore,  of  Ireland  and  my  countrymen 
I  beg  most  earnestly  to  invite  the  Duke  of  Abercorn,  Mr.  John 
Redmond,  M.  P.,  Lord  Barrymore,  Colonel  Saunderson,  M.  P., 
the  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin,  The  O'Connor  Don,  Mr.  William 
O'Brien,  M.P.,  and  Mr.  T.  W.  Russell,  M.P.,  to  a  conference  to 
be  held  in  Dublin  within  one  month  from  this  date. 

He  continues: 

This  was  the  inaugural  note  of  the  "conferential  policy"  which 
so  soon  after  eventuated  in  a  measure  of  supreme  importance  to 
Ireland,  and  which  must  be  the  basis  on  which  all  future  legisla- 
tion for  Ireland  shall  be  framed.  .  .  .  Every  species  of  suspicion 
was  raised  against  it.  "It  was  a  movement  to  push  in  the  thin 
edge  of  the  wedge  and  disrupt  the  Parhamentary  Party."  "It 
was  a  piece  of  Quixotism  which  only  O'Brien  could  take  up  and 
carry  foreward."  "It  was  a  subtle  plan  to  throw  the  tenants  at 
the  feet  of  the  landlords  again,"  etc. 

We  are  further  told  that,  to  the  surprise  of  everyone, 
the  much   derided   Tory   Government   passed   the   famous 


3i6       CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

Wyndham  Act,  which  made  skilled  politicians,  who  had  been 
at  one  time  in  their  lives  dreaming  of  the  three  F.'s,  open 
their  eyes  and  gasp.  The  Act  was  put  into  operation,  and 
notwithstanding  all  appeals  to  the  contrary,  the  farmers 
and  landlords  of  the  country  accepted  it.  The  universality 
of  the  nation's  acceptance,  the  manner  in  which  the  whole 
country  leaped  into  sudden  prosperity,  the  spirits  of  the 
people  raised  to  the  summit  of  security  from  the  depths  of 
despondency,  is  the  refutation  of  such  pessimists,  is  the 
nation's  verdict  on  the  policy  of  conference  and  conciliation. 
Of  his  friend  William  O'Brien,  Canon  Sheehan  has  this 
to  say  in  the  English  monthly  just  mentioned:  "Mr. 
O'Brien  is  one  of  those  men  who  must  excite  violent  antipa- 
thies as  well  as  unbounded  enthusiasm.  It  is  said  he  is 
an  idealist,  a  fanatic,  a  kind  of  cloud-gatherer  who  dreams 
a  good  deal,  but  who  has  not  a  firm  grip  of  the  earth  on  which 
he  stands.  Strange  to  say,  we  have  formed  just  the  opposite 
conclusion.  It  is  quite  true  that  in  the  eyes  of  this  much 
materialized  and  commercialized  generation  there  is  a 
touch  of  Quixotism  in  the  man  who  threw  up  ten  to  twelve 
hundred  a  year  in  a  great  journalistic  appointment  to  take 
up  the  editorship  of  United  Ireland  at  a  nominal  salary  of 
four  hundred  (of  which  he  received  one-halQ?  and  there  is 
also  a  touch  of  Quixotism  in  the  man  who  flung  a  thousand 
pounds  amongst  the  poor  of  Mallow,  when  probably  he  had 
hardly  a  thousand  shillings  left.  And  there  is  something 
of  old-world  romance  about  the  man  who  would  have  thrown 
himself,  like  Winkelried,  on  the  naked  bayonets  of  the  soldiers 
at  the  Green  Park,  Youghal,  to  assert  the  right  of  free  speech, 
and  in  the  outlaw,  who,  like  Dwyer  of  the  Glens,  and  many 
another  hero  of  Irish  romance,  had  his  home  on  the  moun- 
tainside when  the  Curates  of  Cloyne  remained  up  all  night, 
their  supper  tables  ready,  waiting  for  the  tap  at  the  window 
that  would  tell  them  that  the  fugitive  from  English  perse- 
cution was  to  be  their  honored  guest.  .  .  .  But  with  all 
that  Mr.  O'Brien  has  been  a  practical  politician,  and  all 
his  forecasts  were  verified,  and  every  project  of  his  brought 
to  completion,  except  when  he  was  thwarted  by  his  own 


Chap.  IV]  THE  CANON'S  POLITICAL  INFLUENCE   317 

countrymen.  .  .  .  We  have  never  met  an  Irish  priest  who 
has  been  fifteen  or  twenty  years  abroad,  in  America,  in 
Austraha  or  on  the  Continent,  who  did  not  break  at  once 
into  the  prologue:  'How  narrow,  how  insular,  how  reaction- 
ary you  are  all  here;  it  must  be  the  close  boundaries  and  the 
stooping  skies  that  make  you  all  so  limited  in  your  ideas. 
Abroad  we  have  differences  in  religion,  etc.,  but  we  are  all 
citizens  of  the  commonwealth  under  which  we  live,  and  we 
would  no  more  think  of  excluding  a  man  from  the  privileges 
of  citizenship  on  account  of  his  religion  than  we  would 
think  of  quarreling  with  the  color  of  his  necktie.' " 

But  we  must  let  others  speak,  whose  intimate  part  in 
the  conflict  entitles  them  to  an  exceptional  hearing  in  this 
connection: 

Canon  Sheehan,  who  in  his  own  parish  had  proved  the  ines- 
timable blessings  of  the  Land  Conference  settlement,  by  transfer- 
ring the  ownership  of  practically  every  acre  within  its  boundaries 
from  the  landlords  to  the  cultivators,  on  terms  which  have  brought 
unexampled  prosperity  and  happiness  to  the  people's  homes,  and 
dispelled  all  the  old  suspicions  and  bitterness  between  classes  and 
sects,  saw  with  anguish  the  campaign  of  shortsighted  politicians 
for  the  destruction  of  the  policy  which  had  already  effected  such 
wonders.  He  foresaw  with  an  unerring  vision  that  the  result  of 
permitting  the  agrarian  conflict  to  be  used  for  politicians'  ends 
would  be  to  defeat  the  fairest  opportunity  that  ever  offered 
of  combining  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  Irishmen  in  mapping  out  a 
scheme  of  national  self-government  which  would  complete  the 
edifice  of  Irish  freedom.  He  never  doubted  that  the  abuse  levelled 
at  every  Irish  Unionist  who  evinced  Home  Rule  sympathies,  the 
expulsion  of  Mr.  Wyndham,  Lord  Dudley  and  Sir  Antony  Mac- 
Donnell  from  Dublin  Castle  and  the  repudiation  of  the  spirit  of 
conciliation  and  forgiveness  which  inspired  the  Land  Conference 
Settlement,  would  inevitably  reopen  the  old  party  and  sectarian 
sores  as  between  Irishmen,  and  the  disaster  was  completed  when 
the  old  broadminded  national  movement  was  dominated  by  a 
secret  organization  whose  main  object  became  the  division  of 
offices  and  patronage  at  the  hands  of  the  English  Liberals  among 
its  own  members  upon  the  sole  plea  of  their  being  Catholics.  He 
plainly  foresaw  that  the  effect  must  be  both  to  demoralize  the 


3i8        CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

young  Irishmen  who  were  taught  to  look  to  corrupt  aims  of  this 
sort  as  their  purpose  in  Hfe,  and  to  arouse  a  counter  movement 
of  selfish  sectarianism  among  the  Protestants  of  Ulster. 

All  who  pointed  out  those  dangers,  however,  were  set  upon 
with  a  ferocity,  open  and  secret,  from  which  a  man  of  Canon 
Sheehan's  exquisite  sensitiveness  shrank  as  the  delicate  mediaeval 
glass  of  Venice  is  said  to  have  shrunk  at  the  touch  of  poison.  He 
possessed  a  gift  of  lofty  eloquence  which  might  have  made  him  a 
power  in  the  public  arena,  but  his  humble  soul  clung  to  the  calm 
of  the  contemplative  life;  he  recoiled  from  the  stern  mission  of  a 
Savonarola  amidst  the  factions  of  Florence.  He  felt  that  the 
higher  interests  of  Catholicity  were  being  compromised  as  well  as 
those  of  a  broad-minded  nationality,  but  how  was  the  gentle 
country  priest  to  stem  the  tide  without  platform  encounters  and 
newspaper  savageries  which  to  him  presented  an  ordeal  more 
odious  than  the  most  painful  forms  of  martyrdom.?  He  could 
and  did  utter  his  own  solemn  warnings  both  in  the  memorable 
opening  article  of  the  Cork  Free  Press  and  above  all  in  the  Graves 
at  Kilmorna,  which  no  man  of  intelligence  can  now  read  without 
seeming  to  hear  some  divine  note  of  prophecy  sounding  in  every 
chapter.  But  for  the  rest  he  could  only  view  the  contest  from  afar 
in  the  seclusion  of  his  beloved  garden  "under  the  cedars  and  the 
stars,"  and  could  but  mournfully  confide  his  fears  —  indeed, 
politically  speaking,  his  despair  —  to  some  occasional  intimate 
visitor,  during  the  years  while  for  the  sublime  spectacle  of  the 
United  Ireland  of  1903  was  substituted  a  Protestant  Ulster  armed 
to  the  teeth  against  Home  Rule  and  an  Irish  Parliamentary 
Party  sinking  deeper  and  deeper  into  servility  to  the  English 
Liberals  and  smiting  all  Nationalists  of  the  old  traditions  who 
uttered  a  warning  voice  as  "factionists"  or  "traitors." 

The  great  Irishman  has  been  spared  the  sight  of  the  saddest 
spectacle  of  all  —  that  of  the  men  who  had  stung  the  Ulster 
Covenanters  to  arms  by  their  derision  and  by  their  mad  race  to 
monopolize  all  governmental  office  and  emolument,  seeking  to  dis- 
arm their  hostility  now  by  separating  six  of  Ireland's  most  his- 
toric counties  into  an  Orange  Free  State  of  which  the  successor 
of  St.  Patrick  in  Armagh  was  to  be  a  subject,  and  whose  armed 
Lodges  were  to  become  the  custodians  of  the  bones  of  Hugh 
O'Neill  and  Owen  Roe  and  of  their  glorious  battlefields.  But 
nobody  can  read  the  Graves  at  Kilmorna  understandingly  without 
perceiving  in  it  Canon  Sheehan's  sad  conclusion  that  Ireland  lay 


Chap.  IV]  THE  CANON'S  POLITICAL  INFLUENCE   319 

once  more  in  the  mire  of  Parliamentary  corruption  from  which 
Fenianism  had  rescued  it  in  his  boyhood  days.  More  striking  still 
was  the  perspicacity  with  which  he  foresaw  that,  in  our  own  days 
as  in  the  Fenian  days,  corruption  in  Parliament  was  bound  to 
provoke  the  reaction  of  self-sacrifice,  whatever  its  "foolishness" 
in  the  eyes  of  sordid  politicians,  which  has  always  been  the  saving 
salt  of  the  Irish  soul,  and  which  led  the  young  poets  and  idealists 
of  the  late  Dublin  insurrection  to  purchase  the  purification  of  the 
National  Cause  with  their  blood,  bravely  and  unselfishly  shed. 
Canon  Sheehan  would  assuredly  believe  that  their  self-immola- 
tion was  richly  rewarded  by  the  fact  that  the  most  misguided  of 
the  poHticians  who  wrecked  the  matchless  opportunity  of  1903, 
have  now  been  brought  to  proclaim  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as 
though  it  were  a  discovery  of  their  own,  the  wisdom  of  that  policy 
of  Conference,  Conciliation  and  Consent  which  for  twelve  years 
men  like  Canon  Sheehan  were  forced  to  look  despairingly  on, 
while  they  mocked  and  persecuted  it.  In  his  patriotism,  as  in 
his  ascents  to  the  highest  regions  of  religious  thought,  he  stands 
already  vindicated.^ 

1  Memorial  by  Wm.  O'Brien,  M.P. 


EDUCATIONAL    WORK 

CANON  SHEEHAN,  seeing  that  the  municipal 
authorities  at  home  deferred  to  his  judgment  in 
matters  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  the  people, 
gradually  urged  definite  measures  for  the  development  of 
educational  opportunities.  He  had  the  schools  of  the  dis- 
trict remodeled.  The  Christian  Brothers,  sons  of  the 
saintly  Edmund  Ignatius  Rice,  whose  admirable  methods 
of  teaching  have  procured  for  them  an  enviable  reputation 
among  all  classes  of  people  throughout  Ireland,  had  been 
brought  to  Doneraile,  in  1869,  by  Dr.  Croke.  Their  schools 
have  an  excellent  record  under  the  Intermediate  Com- 
missioners. Besides  the  Primary  Schools  at  Doneraile,  they 
conduct  Technical  and  Manual  Training  classes.  These 
are  under  the  supervision  of  the  Dubhn  Department  of 
Education  and  the  County  Council.  There  is  also  a  splen- 
didly equipped  Scientific  Laboratory,  managed  by  the 
Brothers,  under  the  same  Department.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  parallel  a  like  set  of  schools  in  so  small  a  community  as 
this,  not  merely  for  Ireland  but  for  any  country  in  the 
world,  however  progressive. 

In  the  Intermediate  Examinations  of  the  Christian 
Brothers'  schools  the  Canon  invariably  took  an  active  and 
keen  interest;  and  he  encouraged  the  boys  by  his  beautiful 
and  instructive  exhortations  on  all  public  occasions. 

The  religious  of  the  Presentation  Order,  whose  house  was 
founded  in  1818,  have  the  care  of  about  400  girls,  gratuitously 
instructed  and  clothed.  The  course  includes,  besides  the 
elementary  branches  of  study,  both  plain  and  ornamental 
needlework.  Just  before  the  famine  years  940  children 
attended  the  schools;  and  the  old  parishioners  are  fond  of 
recalling  how  beautiful  the  army  of  little  ones  looked  as 

320 


PRESENTATION    CONVENT    AND    GIRLS      SCHOOL 
DONERAILE 


BRIDGE    HOUSE       AND    BOYS     SCHOOL,  DONERAILE 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  321 

each  child  appeared  in  its  white  cap  and  pinafore.  Pupils 
of  these  schools  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  they 
invariably  retain  great  affection  for  the  Presentation  nuns 
at  Doneraile.  The  present  community  numbers  22  Sisters, 
who,  besides  directing  the  National  School,  conduct  a 
lace  and  industrial  department. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  the  Canon  visited  regularly 
the  seven  schools  under  his  pastoral  care.  They  were:  the 
Christian  Brothers'  school  for  boys  and  the  girls'  Institute 
at  the  Convent  in  Doneraile;  two  schools,  one  for  boys  and 
one  for  girls,  at  Shanballymore;  and  three  mixed  schools 
at  Baltydaniel,  Skehana,  and  Ballyvonaire.  All  the  out- 
lying schools  were  taught  by  lay  teachers.  To  reach  some 
of  them  meant  a  drive  of  several  hours;  but  the  Canon 
never  wearied  of  the  task  of  making  his  visits.  He  loved 
his  children  with  a  fervor  and  tenderness  that  one  would 
hardly  have  suspected  in  the  grave  and  stately  priest; 
and  he  watched  their  careers  long  after  they  had  gone  out  of 
school,  so  that  he  might  help  and  direct  them  in  their 
difficulties.  Owing  to  his  influence  with  the  officials  of  the 
county,  and  their  confidence  in  his  judgment,  he  was  able 
to  place  the  young  men  and  women  who  had  left  his  schools, 
in  good  and  honorable  positions;  and  most  of  them  were 
his  pride  and  consolation  in  after  years.  Nothing  seemed 
to  touch  his  heart  with  deeper  grief  than  to  see  any  of  the 
children  stray  from  the  path  of  duty  or  virtue.  It  was  the 
one  thing,  we  are  told,  that  would  cast  a  cloud  over  him 
until  better  reports  were  forthcoming. 

One  of  the  local  teachers  writes  to  us :  "  His  influence  over 
the  young  men  was  unbounded.  He  had  established  several 
literary  societies  to  meet  the  special  needs  of  each  class. 
He  invariably  attended  their  meetings,  and  people  envied 
the  youths  who  were  privileged  to  listen  to  the  talks  he  gave 
them.  These  chats,  or  lectures  as  some  preferred  to  call 
them,  were  characterized  by  an  intimate  and  fascinating 
eloquence  of  which  those  who  heard  him  only  in  public 
discourses  could  form  no  adequate  conception." 

He  provided  all  kinds  of  entertainments  for  the  young  — 


322         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

musical,  literary,  dramatic;  and  it  was  largely  to  gratify 
the  Canon's  desire  to  see  these  entertainments  carried  out 
with  due  effect,  that  Lady  Castletown  built  the  Town  Hall 
in  Doneraile  a  few  years  before  his  death.  That  building 
has  a  stage,  green  rooms,  reading  rooms  and  bilHard  table. 
On  a  stone  over  the  gateway  is  this  inscription:  "This 
Hall  was  erected  by  Lady  Castletown  in  memory  of  the 
Viscountess  Doneraile.     1910." 

At  the  football  and  cricket  matches  and  in  the  hurling 
field  the  Canon  was  as  eager  to  promote  the  sport  as  any 
youth  could  have  been  to  enjoy  it.  He  saw  to  it  that  the 
teams  were  well  equipped  with  bats  and  balls  and  other 
requisites.  The  boys  were  proud  of  their  pastor,  and 
showed  splendid  spirit  and  sportsmanship  in  competition. 
Indeed  one  of  the  most  touching  incidents  of  the  affection 
they  bore  him  was  manifested  on  the  occasion  of  his  home 
coming  from  the  hospital  at  Cork,  where  he  had  gone  for 
an  operation  shortly  before  his  death.  When  the  men 
heard  of  his  return,  hoping  that  he  had  fully  recovered  from 
his  illness,  and  thinking  that  he  was  to  be  with  them  again 
for  good,  they  obtained  permission  from  their  employers 
to  cease  work,  and  walked  six  miles  to  meet  him  at  the 
station.  They  were  prepared  to  draw  the  carriage  in  which 
he  was  to  ride  home.  The  local  band  was  to  accompany 
the  procession  and  the  whole  town  had  arranged  to  make 
a  hohday,  with  fireworks  and  tar  barrels  aflame  at  night, 
in  token  of  their  joy.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  this  spirit 
the  Protestant  youth,  the  employes  of  the  mill,  and  the  men 
at  the  Manor  and  Park,  took  equal  interest.  When  the 
Canon  heard  of  the  preparations  he  forbade  them,  saying 
that  he  preferred  to  slip  into  the  town  quietly  and  that  they 
could  have  their  fun  later  on. 

Whilst  Canon  Sheehan  labored  unremittingly  to  give 
to  his  young  people  every  opportunity  for  mental  and 
industrial  improvement,  he  was  opposed  to  the  indis- 
criminate popularization  of  educational  facilities  by  which 
the  village  youth  would  be  enticed  toward  professional 
courses  without  the  prospect  of  subsequent  success  in  such 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  323 

careers.  His  argument  was  that  when  a  youth  had  reached 
the  grade  of  education  suited  to  his  condition  in  hfe  and  his 
special  talent,  he  should  at  once  be  placed  in  a  position  to 
take  up  work  in  which  he  would  apply  his  knowledge  and 
ability.  To  give  a  lad  an  education  in  one  definite  direction, 
and  then  leave  him  without  means  of  following  it  up,  was,  in 
his  estimate,  doing  the  youth  an  injury.  The  stimulating 
of  aspirations  that  could  not  be  sustained  was  sure  to  be- 
get discontent. 

In  his  correspondence  with  the  local  representative  of 
higher  education,  the  Canon  frequently  pointed  out  that 
much  of  the  trouble  in  Ireland  among  the  younger  generation 
sprang  from  a  system  of  education  which  offered  to  a  highly 
intelligent  people  means  of  training  whereby  their  ambitions 
were  left  unsatisfied.  "These  young  men  are  apt  to  degen- 
erate," he  said,  "by  becoming  soured;  often  this  disposition 
leads  them  to  become  the  originators  of  foolish  and  impracti- 
cable schemes,  and  eventually  fomenters  of  discontent  and 
opposition  against  the  Government  which  to  them  is  respon- 
sible for  their  unequal  lot  in  Hfe."  His  principle  was  to 
train  boys  and  girls  according  to  their  talents,  with  a  definite 
view  to  their  future  occupation  or  position  in  life;  and  to 
see  to  it  that  they  lost  no  time  in  getting  to  work  after  they 
had  left  school  or  college. 

"We  hear  a  great  deal,"  he  writes,  "about  'the  poor 
man's  son,'  and  the  necessity  of  giving  clever  boys  a  chance 
of  developing  undoubted  talents  in  the  halls  of  some  uni- 
versity. It  is  a  specious  cry  because  it  holds  an  elemental 
truth  —  that  it  is  a  deordination  in  nature  to  have  splendid 
talents  allowed  to  run  waste;  and  to  see  brave  young 
geniuses  who  might  be  Newtons  or  Lavaters  condemned 
for  life  to  the  spade  and  mattock.  But  the  temptation  lies 
in  this  —  that  ambitious  parents,  confident  of  their  chil- 
dren's ability,  or  ambitious  teachers,  anxious  for  the  honor 
of  their  schools,  might  be  induced  to  demand  and  give 
special  time  and  attention  to  some  favored  few  to  the 
detriment  of  the  many.  If  a  teacher  thinks  he  has  dis- 
covered a  particularly  clever  lad,  who  will  probably  take 


324         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

a  scholarship,  and  if  he  is  willing  to  devote  special  time 
to  his  development,  by  all  means  let  him  do  so;  but  it  must 
be  outside  school  hours.  It  would  be  a  crime  to  take  away 
from  ninety  pupils  the  teacher's  time  and  attention  for  the 
purpose  of  developing  one  case  of  talent.  For,  again  let  us 
repeat,  and  it  cannot  be  repeated  too  often,  the  crying 
evil  of  our  country  and  our  time  is  the  lack  of  ordinary 
decent  education  amongst  the  masses  of  the  people;  and 
that  the  object  of  the  National,  and  other  systems  of  Primary 
Education,  is  not  to  discover,  or  develop,  the  genius  of  one 
pupil;  but  to  diffuse  throughout  the  entire  community 
a  sound  elementary  education  that  will  qualify  them  to  act 
the  part  of  intelligent  and  responsible  citizens. 

"How  necessary  this  is  amid  the  rapid  developments 
through  which  the  country  is  now  passing,  should  be  evident 
to  the  most  superficial  thinker.  For  good  or  ill,  the  processes 
of  successive  Reform  Bills  have  eventuated  in  manhood 
suffrage.  Every  individual  therefore  is  part  and  parcel 
of  the  administration  of  the  country.  To  commit  that  ad- 
ministration into  the  hands  of  an  unthinking,  unlettered, 
and  therefore  irresponsible  population  would  be  to  pledge 
the  country  to  disaster.  Yet  this  is  what  we  have  to  face, 
unless  some  revolutionary  methods  be  adopted  which  will 
bring  the  means  of  education  within  the  power  of  every 
citizen,  and  the  blessings  of  a  liberal  education  into  the  homes 
of  the  humblest  cottier  or  laborer." 

THE    SCHEME    OF    NATIONAL    SCHOOLS    FOR    IRELAND 

In  order  to  give  some  definite  expression  to  what  bethought 
was  needed  in  the  elementary  schools,  Canon  Sheehan  made 
an  elaborate  analysis  of  the  system  of  education  in  Ireland, 
in  which  he  compares  the  old  methods  with  those  recently 
introduced  under  the  regime  of  English  reform.  His  views 
regarding  the  value  of  personal  training  as  well  as  vocation 
for  the  teacher  are  worthy  of  study.  Equally  pertinent 
are  his  comments  on  what  is  deemed  the  essential  program 
of  studies  in  the  primary  schools.  The  following  reflections 
on  the  subject  are  taken  from  an  unpublished  manuscript 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  325 

which  Canon  Sheehan  had  sent  to  Lady  Gilbert,  and  which 
was  called  forth  by  a  request  in  an  official  Report  for  the 
United  States  Department  of  Education.  The  Report 
to  which  the  Canon's  criticisms  refer  was  presented  by  the 
former  Inspector  of  Irish  schools,  under  the  Intermediate 
Board,  Mr.  Cloudesley  Brereton. 

The  Analysis  begins  by  commenting  upon  the  published 
Census  of  Illiterates  in  Ireland. 

"The  census  returns  of  'IlHterate'  persons  in  Ireland 
are  very  misleading.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  wilful  decep- 
tion of  the  officers;  but  the  standard  of  education  is  so 
very  low  that  thousands  are  returned  as  capable  of  reading 
and  writing,  who  are  barely  able  to  spell  laboriously  through 
the  columns  of  a  newspaper  or  scrawl  their  names  in  a  half 
illegible  manner  on  a  bank-bill.  Most  of  these  semi-illiterate 
persons  have  passed  through  the  usual  classes  or  standards 
in  the  Primary  Schools;  but  owing  to  causes  which  I  shall 
afterwards  specifically  mention,  they  abandon  the  habits 
of  reading  and  writing  after  leaving  school  —  and  sink 
back  into  a  condition  of  almost  absolute  illiteracy.  Any- 
one who  has  ever  witnessed  a  few  peasants  drawing  a  bill 
on  a  village  bank,  or  signing  a  paper  for  the  purchase  of 
land,  and  seen  their  mental  agony  whilst  they  try  to  decipher 
the  meaning  of  the  document  and  then  append  their  signa- 
tures, will  testify  to  this.  And  what  is  true  of  our  agri- 
cultural districts,  is  equally  true  of  manufacturing  centers, 
where  the  young  lads  and  lassies,  after  two  years,  have 
almost  entirely  lost  the  faculty  of  reading  and  writing. 
As  for  a  taste  for  reading  anything  beyond  some  light  novel 
or  the  weekly  political  newspaper,  it  is  absolutely  unknown." 

In  attempting  to  explain  the  failure  of  the  modern  system 
of  teaching  introduced  in  Ireland,  Canon  Sheehan  indicates 
some  inconsistencies  in  the  methods  of  selecting  the  teachers. 

"There  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  old  untrained 
schoolmaster  and  the  young  teachers  who  now  come  out, 
year  after  year,  from  our  Training  Colleges,  and  pass  at 
once  into  our  schools  as  assistants  or  principals.  With  the 
old  generation,  teaching  was  something  like  what  Carlyle 


326        CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  III 

was  always  dreaming  of  and  talking  about  —  a  kind  of  lofty 
vocation,  a  priestly  function,  which  he  would  not  rank 
lower  than  that  of  a  kirk-minister,  or  voluntary  preacher 
under  the  Free  Church.  The  principal  teachers  then 
were  all  old  men,  who  had  been  trained  under  fiery  dis- 
cipline, and  were  rather  too  anxious  that  the  character 
of  the  young  should  be  annealed,  mentally  and  morally, 
in  the  same  way.  The  discipline  of  the  schools  was  severe. 
Corporal  punishment  was  administered  in  a  manner  which 
would  send  a  teacher  of  to-day  into  penal  servitude.  The 
hours  were  long,  generally  from  lo  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  In  many 
places  there  were  morning  sessions  from  7  a.m.  to  9  a.m.; 
and  night  schools  were  the  rule  not  the  exception.  There 
were  no  stated  times  for  vacations.  The  old  teachers  strenu- 
ously objected  to  such  a  waste  of  time;  and  in  many  towns 
of  Ireland  to-day  weird  traditions  have  come  down  of 
desperate  attempts  made  by  the  boys  to  'bar  out'  the 
masters,  until  the  latter  yielded  to  the  demand  of  at  least 
a  short  cessation  from  school  work. 

"It  is  rather  an  interesting  speculation  why  these  old  men 
were  so  much  averse  to  granting  periodical  holidays,  or 
lessening  the  hours  of  daily  school-work.  There  is  really 
no  explanation  of  such  an  attitude,  so  totally  different  from 
everything  we  are  accustomed  to  in  modern  life,  except 
that  those  men  had  conceived  a  perfect  passion  for  work, 
that  solitude  was  unbearable,  that  they  were  never  happy 
without  the  book  and  the  ferule  and  the  daily  worship  of  a 
crowd  of  awe-stricken  and  reverent  pupils.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  at  that  time  traveling  was  almost  unknown 
except  amongst  the  wealthier  classes.  No  teacher  would 
think  of  wasting  weeks  at  the  seaside,  much  less  of  going 
abroad,  and,  —  a  very  important  factor  in  their  monoto- 
nous, but  singularly  useful  lives  was,  —  that  they  were  all 
deeply  conscientious  men,  and  that  in  addition  to  their 
obligations  to  the  State  they  had,  owing  to  the  then  pre- 
vailing system  of  school-fees,  a  sense  of  personal  duty  to 
the  pupils,  and  a  corresponding  interest  in  their  educational 
advancement. 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  327 

"There  never  was  a  bolder  or  wiser  plan,  from  their  own 
standpoint,  than  the  attempt  of  British  ministers  from 
time  to  time  to  subsidize  the  Irish  Catholic  clergy;  and 
never  a  wiser  policy  than  that  adopted  by  these  latter  in 
thwarting  and  rejecting  such  attempts.  And  for  the  same 
reason,  there  never  was  a  greater,  and  alas!  more  irreme- 
diable mistake  than  that  made  by  the  National  Board  of 
Education  in  abolishing  school  fees.  It  converted  the 
teachers  into  State  officials,  and  destroyed  all  personal 
interest  in  their  pupils.  And  it  broke  up  that  sympathy, 
arising  out  of  mutual  assistance,  that  existed  between  the 
teachers  and  the  parents  of  the  children.  It  turned  the 
schools  into  government  Lycees,  controlled  by  penal  laws; 
and  while  it  removed  from  the  consciences  of  the  teachers 
that  sense  of  commutative  justice  that  arose  from  the 
personal  obligation  of  giving  value  for  the  stipends  received, 
it  took  away  at  the  same  time  from  the  minds  of  the  parents 
that  keen  interest  in  the  educational  progress  of  their  chil- 
dren that  naturally  is  felt  where  it  is  well  paid  for.  Hence 
to-day  we  find,  in  the  few  voluntary  schools  of  the  country 
which  are  not  under  the  management  of  the  National  Board, 
and  where  fees  from  one  penny  to  twopence  a  week  up  to 
ten  shillings  a  quarter  are  paid  by  the  pupils,  the  attendance 
is  cent  per  cent;  whereas,  in  the  National  Schools,  where 
no  fees  are  paid,  and  where  very  often  books,  paper,  slates, 
pens,  etc.  are  supplied  gratis  to  the  children,  the  attendance 
seldom  reaches  beyond  65  per  cent  of  the  pupils  on  the 
rolls. 

"The  principals  and  assistants  in  all  National  Schools 
to-day  are  comparatively  young  men,  most  of  whom  have 
been  recently  trained  at  some  recognized  college  here  and 
there  in  the  country;  but  with  no  further  experience. 
They  have  learned  to  teach  scientifically.  Many  of  them 
have  no  idea  of  making  teaching  a  profession.  Conscious 
of  much  ability,  they  determine  that  that  school  shall  be 
a  stepping-stone  to  something  higher  —  a  little  pause  in  the 
race  of  life  before  striding  on  to  the  final  goal.  The  little 
children  are  no  longer  the  sons  and  daughters  of  friends, 


328         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

who  are  to  be  watched  over  with  more  than  paternal  vigi- 
lance; and  whose  futures  are  an  object  of  as  much  solicitude 
to  the  teacher  as  his  own.  Unlike  the  old  teachers,  he  does 
not  look  forward  to  the  time  when  that  brilliant  young 
barrister  will  call  at  his  school;  and  thank  him  publicly  for 
all  the  wise  counsel,  all  the  sage  admonitions  that  he  received; 
or  the  young  priest  or  minister,  flushed  with  the  glory  of 
ordination,  will  steal  in  and  greet  his  old  master  and  give 
him  his  blessing;  or  that  young  girl,  who  has  made  a  pros- 
perous match,  will  roll  up  in  her  carriage  and  place  a  bunch 
of  violets  on  the  master's  desk  without  a  word.  All  that 
has  gone;  the  pupils  are  now  so  many  units,  who  have  to 
be  worked  up  into  decimals  to  prove  to  Treasury  officials 
that  there  has  been  a  certain  number  of  wild  Irish  in  attend- 
ance at  that  school;  and  that  there  is  no  loophole,  alas!  for 
escape.     His  salary,  even  to  the  decimals,  must  be  paid. 

"It  would  be  the  greatest  injustice  here,  if  we  let 
it  for  a  moment  be  supposed  that  the  modern  teacher  is 
indiff^erent,  or  careless  about  his  pupils,  except  in  so  far  as 
they  help  him  to  his  salary  and  increments.  But  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  there  is  scarcely  a  teacher  in  the  country 
who  has  settled  down  permanently  in  his  locality,  without 
hope  of  a  better  school  in  a  more  comfortable  place;  and 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  so  many  Irish  teachers  are  flying 
away  to  England,  or  seeking  situations  in  the  Civil  Service, 
and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  there  are  no  longer  those  mutual 
relations  between  teachers  and  pupils  that  arose  from  the 
payment  of  school  fees,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
the  calling  of  a  National  Teacher  in  Ireland  has  sunk  down 
from  the  Carlylean  idea  to  one  of  mere  oflicialdom  —  the 
paid  hireling  of  the  State." 

In  order  to  bring  home  his  contention  that  the  teachers 
in  the  National  Schools  need  to  be  safeguarded  from  an 
undue  ambition  that  causes  them  to  seek  promotion  at  the 
cost  of  efficiency.  Canon  Sheehan  dwells  on  the  necessity 
of  securing  for  all  teachers  an  income  adequate  to  the  dignity 
of  their  profession: 

*'  I  doubt  if  the  educationists  of  Ireland  have  ever  realized 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  329 

the  dignity  and  importance  of  the  office  of  teacher.  They 
are  so  accustomed  to  consider  teaching  as  a  mere  means  of 
HveHhood,  and  teachers  as  mere  Civil  Servants,  that  it  must 
be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  these  latter  to  rise  to  a 
higher  conception  of  their  profession.  In  fact,  it  is  only 
once  or  twice  in  a  generation  that  some  profound  and  rever- 
ent thinker  seizes  on  the  idea  that,  next  in  dignity  and 
honor,  after  the  sacred  professions,  comes  the  very  exalted 
and  honorable  vocation  of  training  the  young  minds  of 
the  country.  It  is  difficult  to  see  why  the  profession  of 
teaching  should  be  regarded  as  less  honorable  than  the 
legal  or  medical  professions.  If  we  judge  by  its  importance, 
and  not  by  its  emoluments,  it  should  rank  far  beyond  them. 
If  we  are  to  judge  by  its  services  to  the  State,  there  is  no 
comparison.  If  we  are  to  judge  by  its  influence  on  humanity, 
it  stands  out  the  premier  secular  profession.  Probably 
it  will  take  many  generations  to  understand  this.  But  it 
should  be  said  at  once  that  in  our  Training  Colleges,  especially 
those  under  the  management  of  religious  guides,  this  view 
of  the  sacredness  and  solemnity  of  the  teaching  office  should 
be  kept  before  the  minds  of  the  pupils  in  season  and  out  of 
season.  They  have  got  to  deal  not  with  human  decom- 
position and  disease;  not  with  human  crime  and  folly  and 
dishonesty;  not  with  mechanical  contrivances  and  dull, 
inert  matter;  but  with  human  souls,  which  are  placed  in 
their  hands  for  formation;  and  which  receive  at  their  hands 
that  bias  towards  good  and  evil  that  must  influence  all 
their  after  lives;  and  make  them  a  burden  and  a  curse,  or 
a  blessing  and  a  help,  towards  the  entire  community. 

"Hence  I  am  of  opinion  that  at  once  the  material  interests 
of  the  teachers,  their  salaries  and  pensions,  should  be 
placed  in  such  a  condition  of  adequacy  and  proportion 
that  would  liberate  the  minds  of  teachers  from  all  anxiety 
about  their  futures,  and  leave  them  absolutely  free  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  more  spiritual  side  of  their  exalted  calling. 
I  do  not  think  therefore  that  the  salary  of  a  teacher  should 
be  made  dependent  upon  the  size  of  his  school,  or  the  number 
of  his  pupils.     For  thence  arises  the  deadly  temptation  of 


330         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

regarding  himself  as  a  mere  bird-of-passage,  who  has  not 
and  never  can  have  an  interest  in  his  pupils,  but  is  ever 
looking  out  in  the  daily  paper  for  an  advertisement  for 
principal  in  some  more  populous  place,  whence  again  he  is 
to  migrate  when  the  opportunity  offers.  On  the  other 
hand,  reason,  justice,  public  opinion  and  common  sense 
demand  that,  when  a  teacher  has  honestly  and  conscien- 
tiously devoted  his  life  to  the  services  of  the  State,  he  should 
be  protected  by  the  State  by  adequate  pensions  from  any 
hardship  of  poverty  or  sickness,  when  incapacitated  from 
work  by  old  age  or  infirmity. 

"Under  the  old  system,  again,  a  great  deal  of  initiative, 
or  voluntary  work,  was  permitted  to  the  teachers  and  with 
their  extraordinary  zeal  they  eagerly  availed  of  the  permis- 
sion. The  subjects  marked  on  the  time-tables  were  very 
limited  in  number;  and  the  educational  capacities  of  the 
teachers  did  not  reach  beyond  them.  But  what  they 
knew,  they  knew  well;  and  they  had  the  talent  to  impart  it 
thoroughly.  The  inspection  was  loose  and  unmethodical. 
The  Managers  rarely  visited  the  schools;  the  Inspectors 
came  once  a  year  for  the  annual  examination.  There  was 
a  certain  freedom  permissible  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
lessons,  so  that  if  the  boys  and  girls  had  a  fancy  or  an 
aptitude  for  a  particular  subject  or  science,  they  were 
allowed  to  exercise  it  without  molestation.  And  if  a  class, 
interested  in  geography,  or  mathematics,  seemed  to  covet 
a  few  minutes  more  in  that  class,  no  objection  was  made. 
We  remember  one  clear  instance  where  two  young  lads  of 
12  to  14  years  were  permitted  by  the  master  to  spend  the 
seven  hours  a  day  for  the  last  two  years  of  their  course  in 
working  out  problems  in  algebra,  or  exercises  (or  as  they 
were  called  'cuts')  in  Euclid  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other  subject.  This  gave  them  an  extraordinary  power  of 
mental  concentration  that  made  all  succeeding  subjects 
comparatively  easy. 

"The  results  of  the  old  system  were  at  least  twofold: 

(i)  thoroughness  in  teaching; 

(2)  a  passion  for  self-improvement  on  the  pupil's  part. 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  331 

As   we   have    already    said,    the    subjects   were   Hmited. 
They  embraced: 

Reading  Euclid 

Writing  Algebra 

Arithmetic  Mensuration 

Geography 

And  all  of  these,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  reading 
(the  comparative  unimportance  of  which  we  shall  discuss 
hereafter),  were  taught  in  a  manner  which  is  now  impossible. 

"And  the  teachers  had  the  singular  and  unique  success 
of  implanting  in  the  minds  of  their  pupils  a  sense  that,  on 
leaving  school,  they  were  but  commencing  their  life's  education, 
which  would  end  only  with  life.  Hence  they  turned  out 
generation  after  generation  of  reading  men,  eager  to  supple- 
ment the  elementary  education  of  their  childhood  by  the 
larger  reading  of  after  life.  The  very  fact  that  so  much 
liberty  of  initiative  was  allowed,  that  studies  were  not 
altogether  task  work,  that  there  was  a  kind  of  sympathy 
between  teachers  and  pupils  arising  out  of  a  mutual  love 
for  kindred  subjects,  would  go  far  to  account  for  this. 
The  eye  of  the  pupil  was  upon  his  master;  the  eye  of  the 
master  on  his  pupil." 

Canon  Sheehan  shows  further  how  the  new  system  of 
instruction  has  allowed  primary  education  to  overlap 
Intermediate  studies;  and  these  latter  to  encroach  upon 
the  University  curriculum.  "We  have  heard  'Analysis' 
taught  to  little  girls  in  the  Fourth  Standard  in  a  manner 
that  might  suit  young  graduates  in  a  Scotch  University; 
and  the  higher  grades  of  Tonic  Sol-Fa  taught  to  girls  who 
would  much  prefer  the  latest  music-hall  chorus  from  London 
or  Liverpool.  There  are  two  truths  which  seem  never 
to  have  been  grasped  by  Irish  educationists.  The  first  is 
that  they  rate  the  average  intelligence  of  Irish  children 
altogether  too  highly;  the  second  is,  that  education  should 
also  be  adaptation,  that  is,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases, 
the  preparation  and  training  of  children  for  their  positions 
in  after  life. 


332         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

"The  present  idea  appears  to  be,  that  children's  minds 
should  be  made  not  only  repositories  of  universal  infor- 
mation, but  should  also  be  trained  to  a  degree  of  mental 
efficiency  that  is  only  attained  in  the  grand  climacteric  of 
life.  The  question  really  is,  whether  the  child's  mind  is  to 
be  made  a  storehouse  like  a  doll's  shop,  full  of  all  small 
but  pretty  things,  or  whether  the  tastes  and  talents  of  the 
child  shall  be  cultivated  towards  something  higher  to  be 
acquired  in  after  hfe.  This  latter  is  our  opinion;  and  that 
is  the  reason  we  insist  so  strongly  on  the  right  of  allowing 
some  originality  or  initiative  in  the  selection  of  subjects 
by  teachers  or  pupils. 

"A  simple  example  will  suffice  to  show  how,  in  one  depart- 
ment alone,  immense  trouble  is  taken  in  one  manner  of 
handling  a  very  common  subject  which  practically  is  of  no 
utility  whatever  in  after  life,  except  to  a  chosen  few;  and 
no  trouble  whatever  is  taken  in  teaching  the  same  subject 
in  that  manner  and  under  that  aspect  where  it  might  be 
universally  profitable. 

*'How  many  children  in  any  National  School  in  Ireland 
will  be  called  upon  in  their  after  lives  to  read  aloud  either 
to  an  individual,  or  some  select  gathering.?  How  many 
will  become  professional  elocutionists?  One  boy  out  of 
five  hundred  will  be  a  clergyman,  and  must  read  distinctly 
and  with  a  certain  grace.  One  girl  out  of  ten  thousand  may 
be  a  companion  to  a  lady  who  may  require  her  to  read  for 
her  at  night,  or  during  illness.  The  remaining  legions  will 
never  as  a  rule  be  called  upon  to  read  distinctly,  to  pro- 
nounce correctly,  or  understand  the  proper  emphasis  of 
words  or  phrases.  Yet,  what  time,  what  labor,  what 
pains,  are  expended  on  an  accomplishment  which  will 
seldom  or  never  be  requisitioned  in  after  life.  Let  it  be 
remembered  that  we  are  not  making  light  of  the  accom- 
pHshment.  It  is  a  very  beautiful  one;  but  we  are  speaking 
now  of  educational  methods  in  their  application  to  the 
utilities  of  after  life;  and  there,  in  the  vast  multitude  of 
cases,  the  accomplishment  is  practically  useless.  On  the 
other  hand,  reading  in  the  sense  of  creating  a  'passion  for 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  333 

reading  and  a  knowledge  of  what  ought  to  he  read,  is  never 
taught. 

"The  minds  of  young  lads  and  young  maidens  of  six- 
teen and  seventeen  are  fed  with  the  crumbs  and  pills  of 
scrappy  literature,  —  elegant  extracts,  bits  of  poetry,  dis- 
sertations on  political  economy,  etc.,  in  which,  because  they 
are  task  work,  the  children  can  take  no  interest  whatever. 
The  beauties  of  English  literature,  the  vast  treasures  that 
have  been  accumulated  for  centuries  by  the  rich  and 
prolific  authorship  of  great  and  enlightened  men;  the  hoard 
of  precious  thoughts  that  lie  hidden  there  beneath  the  covers 
of  books  which  modern  competition  has  made  available 
for  the  slenderest  purse  —  all  are  unknown  and  concealed 
from  eager  and  inquiring  spirits,  who  then  go  out  into  the 
world  to  feed  their  minds  on  the  only  pabulum  of  which 
they  have  ever  heard  —  the  garbage  of  London  flimsies, 
or  the  poison  of  party  political  organs,  where  there  is  neither 
"truth,  justice,  or  judgment."  A  taste  for  reading  —  I 
mean  reading  anything  wholesome  or  elevating  —  is  almost 
unknown  in  this  country.  A  young  Englishman,  or  a  young 
Scotchman,  will  be  found  to  have  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  the 
English  classics  —  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  what  books  are 
worth  reading  and  what  books  are  worthless.  And,  con- 
sidering the  fact  that  really  half  the  joy  and  pleasure  of  most 
lives  is  to  be  found  in  books,  is  it  not  pitiable  that  our 
children's  minds  should  be  so  starved  that,  in  after  life, 
they  cannot  distinguish  food  from  poison  —  the  great 
thoughts  that  elevate  and  refine  from  the  pitiable  trivialities 
that  weaken  the  intellect,  lower  the  standards  of  ethical 
and  moral  worth,  and  create  an  efi^eminate  and  thoughtless 
people  swayed  by  passion,  and  regardless,  because  ignorant 
of  the  higher  principles  of  reason  and  pubhc  morahty? 

"With  regard  to  the  time  devoted  to  education  in  Ireland, 
we  find  that  200  days  is  the  minimum  exacted  by  the  National 
Board.  That  is  to  say,  the  working  days  in  our  schools 
are  little  more  than  half  the  days  of  the  year.  Setting 
aside  Sundays  and  hoHdays,  there  should  be  306  working 
days  at  least;   and  allowing  the  40  days,  which  is  the  maxi- 


334         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

mum  of  vacation  allowed  by  the  Board,  there  should  be 
266  working  days  in  the  year.  Yet  a  minimum  of  200 
days  is  all  that  is  required  of  our  teachers  or  pupils.  And 
each  working  day  means  but  four  hours.  Now,  con- 
sidering the  multiplicity  of  subjects  required  by  the  Board 
and  the  very  limited  time  that  is  imperative  and  obligatory 
on  the  teachers,  it  follows  that  only  the  most  superficial 
education  can  be  imparted  to  the  children  of  the  country. 
Add  to  this  the  number  of  days  that  are  lost  by  individual 
pupils,  who  are  absent  through  sickness,  epidemic,  or  other- 
wise; by  agricultural  requirements;  and  through  the  thou- 
sand and  one  excuses  that  are  made  by  negligent  and 
ignorant  parents;  and  it  will  be  seen  how  impossible  it  is 
to  create  in  Ireland  a  body  of  youths  of  both  sexes  who 
may  be  said  to  leave  school  even  fairly  equipped  for  the 
responsibilities  of  life.  There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why 
(except  in  the  case  of  infants)  the  school  hours  should  not 
be  extended  to  five;  there  is  no  reason  why,  as  in  former 
times,  Saturdays  should  not  be  half-holidays;  there  is  no 
reason  why  a  uniform  standard  of  vacations,  —  allowing 
a  fortnight  at  Christmas,  ten  days  at  Easter  and  four 
weeks  at  summer,  should  not  be  rigidly  maintained."^ 

"The  Night  Extension  School  was  an  admirable  idea. 
It  failed;  and  it  failed  because  the  youth  of  the  country 
were  not  already  prepared  by  the  day  schools  to  recom- 
mence their  education.  They  were  never  taught  that 
education  meant  anything  but  task  work  without  design 
or  object  but  to  help  the  teacher  to  live;  and  they  had  no 
notion  of  commencing  such  task  work  again,  when  tired 
and  weary  after  the  manual  labor  of  the  day. 

"With  regard  to  the  program  of  Primary  Education 
let  it  be  again  insisted  upon  that  the  systems  should  not 
be  allowed  to  overlap  each  other;  but  that  each.  Primary, 
Intermediate,  and  University,  should  be  kept  rigidly  within 
its  own  limits.  Hence  what  are  called  'accomplishments,' 
the  frills  and  decorations  of  education,  should  be  absolutely 

^  In  Germany,  by  Act  of  Parliament,  the  primary  and  secondary  schools 
throughout  the  Empire  open  at  the  same  time  and  close  simultaneously. 


Chap.  V] 


EDUCATIONAL  WORK 


335 


excluded  from  Primary  Education.  For  the  object  of  Primary 
Education  is  not  to  discover  talent,  not  to  help  on  a  favored 
few,  not  to  create  reputations  for  clever  teachers  or  pupils; 
but  to  extend  the  blessings  of  an  elementary  training  amongst 
the  vast  masses  of  the  populatioii.  To  raise  these  masses 
up  from  the  frightful  ignorance  in  which  they  now  spend 
their  lives;  to  introduce  into  their  homes  something  of  the 
*  sweetness  and  light'  of  modern  civilization;  to  show  them, 
the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and  the  humblest  of  the  humble, 
that  human  life  has  higher  issues  than  are  involved  in  mere 
drudgery  for  daily  bread;  and,  in  a  practical  sense,  to  show 
them  how  to  avail  of  the  vast  utilities  that  lie  beneath 
their  hands,  and  which  only  a  fairly  educated  people  can 
adequately  develop  —  this  is  the  sole  object  of  Primary 
Education  in  Ireland.  It  may  be  fairly  said  that  90  per 
cent  of  the  children  frequenting  our  schools  will  have  to  earn 
their  bread  by  manual  labor.  It  would  seem  reasonable, 
then,  that,  whilst  technical  education  should  hold  a  primary 
place,  everything  that  savors  of  mere  'accomplishments,' 
or  that  belongs  to  a  higher  and  secondary  course,  should 
be  rigidly  excluded.  Let  us  now  see  how  the  program  for 
National  Schools  meets  these  demands. 

"The  entire  program   in  an  ordinary  Girls'  School  em- 
braces the  following  subjects: 


Reading; 

Drawing:  — 

Grammar; 

Writing; 

Geometrical; 

Parsing; 

Composition; 

Freehand; 

Analysis; 

Dictation; 

Scale; 

Tonic  Sol-Fa; 

Mental  Arithmetic; 

Geography:  — 

Staff  Notation; 

Written  Arithmetic; 

Local; 

Kindergarten; 

Physical; 

Object  Lessons; 

Mathematical; 

Hand  and  Eye  Training; 

Cookery; 

Laundry; 

Drill; 

Irish; 

Sewing; 

Knitting; 

History; 

Fancy  Work; 

Crochet; 

Religious  Instruction. 
This   is    an   extensive   program    for  two   hundred   days   at 


336         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

four  hours  a  day;  and  one  wonders  whether  it  is  possible 
for  pupils  to  obtain  more  than  the  merest  superficial  and 
elementary  knowledge  of  these  many  subjects. 

"As  mere  'accomplishments,'  such  subjects  as  Freehand, 
Geometrical  and  Scale  drawing,  Analysis  (which  is  only 
fit  for  University  students),  Tonic  Sol-Fa,  Fancy  Work, 
Mathematical  and  Physical  Geography,  might  be  struck 
out  at  once.  Imagine  a  class  of  grown  girls  staring  at  a 
blackboard,  crowded  with  geometrical  figures,  and  knowing 
all  the  time  that  in  a  few  weeks  they  will  be  milking  cows 
and  washing  clothes!  Or  a  class  struggling  through  the 
intricacies  of  Tonic  Sol-Fa,  when  we  know  that  every  girl 
will  discard  all  that  in  a  few  weeks  and  pick  up  the  latest 
music-hall  song  from  London!  And  imagine  little  children 
in  a  4th  Standard  puzzling  their  poor  brains  over  subject, 
predicate,  qualifying  predicate,  and  objects,  when  we  have 
known  young  philosophers  in  the  Higher  Colleges  torturing 
their  intellects  about  such  things. 

"Surely,  so  far  as  mere  literary  training  is  concerned,  it 
should  be  quite  enough  for  working  boys  and  girls  to  know 
how  to  read,  and  what  to  read;  to  write  a  decent  legible 
hand;  to  compose  an  interesting  and  grammatical  letter; 
to  speak  distinctly  and  clearly  without  mouthing,  mum- 
bling, or  slang;  to  know  how  to  tote  up  figures  and  keep 
accounts,  and  understand  the  intricacies  of  buying  and 
selling;  for  boys,  some  technical  training  should  be  made 
indispensable;  and  for  girls,  cooking  and  laundry;  and 
for  both,  some  elementary  knowledge  of  hygiene. 

"It  seems  incredible,  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  the  ordinar>'^ 
people  who  form  the  bulk  of  our  population  do  not  know, 
have  not  even  the  faintest  idea  of  how  their  bodies  are  con- 
structed, what  are  the  organs  of  the  body  and  how  placed; 
what  are  the  natures  of  specific  diseases,  how  they  are 
contracted,  how  they  may  be  prevented,  or  cured.  Many 
children  have  the  most  fantastic  notions  of  the  organs  of 
the  body  and  their  location;  whilst  the  processes  of  cir- 
culation, respiration,  and  digestion  are  sealed  mysteries  to 
them.     Most  of  the  diseases  of  middle  hfe  are  the  results 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  337 

of  the  indiscretions  of  youth;  and  many  of  these  indis- 
cretions are  the  result  of  ignorance  as  well  as  misdirected 
passion.  I  once  heard  a  young  man,  who  in  the  very 
springtime  and  promise  of  a  useful  and  even  distinguished 
life,  was  suddenly  stricken  by  a  hereditary  malady,  curse 
bitterly  the  parents  who  had  brought  him  into  the  world. 
How  many  young  men  and  women  have  reason  to  resent 
bitterly  the  culpable  neglect  of  parents  and  teachers,  who 
through  false  shame,  or  more  often  through  indifference, 
allowed  these  young  and  unprotected  creatures  to  enter 
upon  the  solemn  duties  of  life  without  a  word  that  could 
guard  them  from  bodily  disease  or  spiritual  corruption! 
Surely  one  of  the  first  things  that  should  be  taught  the  young 
of  both  sexes  is  to  protect  the  temple  of  their  bodies  and 
save  themselves  from  the  years  of  agony  and  the  premature 
deaths  that  are  the  result  of  the  neglect  or  the  indifference 
of  their  inexperienced  years.  A  good  deal  of  attention  is 
now  given  in  some  schools  to  the  care  of  the  teeth  and  the 
eyes  and  the  hair;  and  some  progress  has  been  made. 
But  there  are  deeper  and  more  radical  problems  which  ought 
to  be  faced." 

Canon  Sheehan  is  careful  to  state  that  the  teaching  of 
these  subjects  should  be  so  formulated  as  to  make  the 
purpose  of  safeguarding  virtue  simultaneously  with  health 
quite  emphatic.  He  next  refers  to  those  practical  accom- 
plishments of  nursing,  domestic  science,  etc.,  which  girls 
need  to  be  taught. 

"For  girls,  a  knowledge  of  the  science  of  nursing  should 
be  made  equally  indispensable.  Nursing  of  infants  and  of 
the  sick  is  the  natural  duty  and  calhng  of  women.  Apart 
from  argument,  the  eagerness  and  zeal  with  which  the 
profession  of  nursing  has  been  taken  up  of  late  years  by 
hundreds  of  young  women  throughout  the  land  is  a  proof 
of  this.  If  there  were  not  some  natural  instinct,  some 
divinely-planted  calling  in  this  direction,  these  ladies,  many 
of  whom  have  been  delicately  reared,  could  never  face  the 
hardships  and  the  painful  surroundings  which  are  inseparable 
from  the  sick-room.     This  instinct  should  be  fostered  and 


338         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

encouraged  in  our  young  girls,  so  that  in  their  own  homes 
and  families  they  may  be  able  at  any  time  to  render  their 
parents  or  their  brothers  and  sisters  such  help  as  can  only 
come  from  a  trained  and  experienced  hand.  Practical 
education  of  this  kind  would  make  our  young  people  more 
studious  about  themselves,  more  intelligent  helpers  to  others, 
than  if  they  could  draw  circles  with  the  genius  of  a  Giotto, 
or  could  analyze  the  longest  sentence  in  Ruskin." 

UNIVERSITY     EDUCATION 

In  the  ever-recurring  question  of  University  education 
for  Catholic  students  in  Ireland  Canon  Sheehan  was  natu- 
rally much  interested.  He  had  been  repeatedly  invited  to 
lecture  to  the  medical  students  who,  after  matriculation 
at  the  Royal  University,  came  under  the  care  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  in  the  Catholic  University  College.  The  relation 
of  Catholic  students  to  Trinity  College,  which  in  many 
respects  was  the  national  University,  had  been  persistently 
agitated  since  1873,  when  the  Fawcett  Act  abolished  all 
religious  tests  for  admission.  The  correspondence  between 
Canon  Sheehan  and  some  of  the  professors  of  Dublin  Uni- 
versity College,  notably  Father  George  O'Neill,  S.J.,  who 
had  studied  in  the  Universities  of  Prague  and  Paris,  and  who 
was  occupying  at  the  time  the  chair  of  English  Literature 
and  Philology  at  the  Dublin  College,  shows  that  the  Canon 
did  not  entertain  much  hope  of  independent  recognition 
for  the  Catholic  body  through  the  Royal  Commission.  He 
believed  that  if  the  Catholic  students  in  large  numbers 
attended  Trinity  College  and  asserted  their  religious  rights, 
the  academic  authorities  would  eventually  be  forced  to  take 
cognizance  of  their  demands.  Meanwhile  it  was  necessary 
to  keep  up  Catholic  organization  among  the  students,  as 
was  being  done  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  They  had  been 
in  charge  of  University  College  for  many  years  and  had 
supported  it  without  any  subsidy  from  the  Government. 
In  July,  1905,  Canon  Sheehan  wrote  to  his  friend  in  Dublin, 
commenting  upon  an  address  made  by  Archbishop  Walsh 
on  the  position  of  Catholics  in  the  matter  of  higher  education. 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  339 

Ballycotton,  July 

Dear  Father  O'Neill, 

Your  letter  was  before  me  last  Saturday  when  I  came  from 
Retreat  ...  I  assure  you  it  (the  Archbishop's  speech)  gave  me 
great  pleasure  for  many  reasons,  but  mostly  for  the  indication  it 
gave,  that  it  was  still  quite  possible  for  us,  Irish  Cathohcs,  to  sink 
all  minor  issues  in  the  face  of  a  common  danger,  and  effect  a 
combination  of  force  that  would  at  least  embarrass  the  enemy. 

I  do  not  think  Dr.  McDonald  really  put  forward  his  ideas  about 
Trinity  as  practicable,  but  merely  as  tentative  of  public  opinion. 
His  idea  seems  outside  the  range  of  possibilities  just  now;  but  there 
is  a  widespread  belief  that  if  300  Catholic  students  could  enter 
Trinity  with  the  direct  sanction  of  the  Bishop,  the  Government 
would  throw  us  a  University  before  many  years.  For  myself 
I  abandoned  all  hope  of  a  C.  University  from  the  day  I  was  an 
unwilling  and  unhappy  witness  of  the  reception  of  the  King  at 
Maynooth. 

I  think  .  .  .  that  Trinity  has  a  reputation  it  does  not  deserve. 
But  it  certainly  has  had  a  few  remarkable  men  in  our  own  time. 
I  had  recently  two  different  accounts  of  their  spirit.  One  to  the 
effect  that  the  Junior  Profession  are  of  a  totally  different  spirit 
from  that  of  Salmon,  Traill,  etc.,  and  are  disposed  to  be  extremely 
liberal  towards  Catholics.  The  other  to  the  effect  that  all  are 
animated  with  intense  bigotry  and  intolerance  of  anything  Catholic. 
This  latter  came  from  one  who  has  been  in  the  inner  circle. 

Strange  to  say,  my  acquaintance  with  Trinity  men  is  limited 
to  that  of  a  disreputable  tramp  of  a  graduate  who  came  to  Mallow 
as  a  tutor  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  drifted  downwards  to 
beggary.  In  his  worst  state  he  maintained  all  the  manners  and 
dignity  of  a  gentleman;  and  was  always  polished,  suave,  reserved. 
I  underline  the  latter  word,  because  I  feel  it  is  just  where  we  fail 
most  conspicuously.  But  I  was  much  struck  with  his  accent 
and  intonation  and  the  (to  me)  pecuHar  pronunciation  of  Latin 
and  French.  The  man  carried  an  atmosphere  with  him;  and  I 
often  asked  myself,  what  was  it.?  Was  it  that  indefinable  thing 
called  University  training? 

You  may  thank  the  laziness  of  this  delightful  place  for  the 
infliction  of  this  letter.  I  wish  you  were  here,  and  that  we  could 
exchange  ideas. 

Always  sincerely,  my  dear  Fr.  O'Neill, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 


34©         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

If  at  this  time  the  Canon's  knowledge  of  Trinity  was 
hmited  to  the  acquaintance  with  the  tramp  whom  he 
mentions  in  the  foregoing  letter,  the  men  at  the  University 
were  not  unconscious  of  nor  indifferent  to  the  educational 
views  of  the  retiring  parish  priest  of  Doneraile.  In  later 
years  they  tendered  him  their  homage  in  various  ways,  of 
which  the  following  letter  of  the  Honorable  Judge  M.  J. 
Bourke,  M.A.,  K.C.,  of  County  Cork,  gives  an  indication: 

I-  3-  1912. 
87  Lower  Baggot  Str.,  Dublin. 
My  dear  Father  Pat, 

There  is  a  strong  desire  among  the  higher  literary  men  in 
Trinity  College  to  make  your  acquaintance.  The  Vice  Chancellor 
of  the  University  (Judge  Madden)  has  asked  me  as  a  favor  to  se- 
cure your  presence  as  his  guest  there  at  a  dinner,  at  which  he  will 
have  some  interesting  literary  men  to  meet  you.  He  is  himself  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  your  books  (as  indeed  are  all  the  Judges 
and  the  Benchers  of  King's  Inns),  and  he  is  particularly  anxious 
to  meet  you.  He  is,  as  you  are  aware,  a  distinguished  scholar 
himself,  and  carries  great  weight  in  University  and  educational 
matters.  ...  It  is  the  highest  compliment  the  Vice-Chancellor 
can  pay.  He  has  only  the  privilege  of  asking  two  guests,  and  I 
am  only  invited  as  a  medium  of  securing  you. 

You  must  come  and  stay  with  us  while  in  Dublin.  Your  bed- 
room will  be  ready  and  you  will  be  perfectly  free  and  at  home. 

Matt.  J.  Bourke. 

Probably  the  best  way  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  influence 
which  Canon  Sheehan  exercised  in  the  direction  of  University 
education  for  Catholic  students  will  be  found  in  the  following 
request  by  Father  Joseph  Darlington,  S.J.,  Dean  of  the 
Faculty  and  Professor  of  Mental  Science  at  University 
College,  Dublin,  and  governor  of  the  Cathohc  Medical 
School.  The  letter  gives  us  at  the  same  time  an  insight 
into  the  character  of  the  work  done  for  the  social  uplift 
of  the  city  of  Dublin  through  the  faculty  of  University 
College. 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  341 

University  College, 
Stephen's  Green,  Dublin. 
A'^0i:'-V-i9O3. 

Very  Rev.  dear  Dr.  Sheehan, 

At  the  instance  of  His  Grace  the  Archbishop,  and  of  many  in- 
terested in  Dublin,  and  elsewhere,  the  Catholic  University  Pro- 
fessors and  Students  of  the  Arts  and  Medical  Colleges,  living  in 
Dublin,  formed  themselves  last  session  —  towards  its  close  — ■ 
into  a  special  Conference  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  for  social  work 
amid  the  poor  of  Dublin.  It  is  called  the  University  Conference 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  —  and  the  main  purpose  of  it  is  to  bring  the 
youth  of  Ireland  into  practical  acquaintance  with  social  work 
and  questions,  and  with  the  poor,  during  their  University  career: 
—  it  is  calculated  to  impart  greater  seriousness:  and  perception 
of  life's  dangers  and  responsibilities,  during  their  student  stay 
in  Dublin:  and  also  when  the  students  return  to  their  native 
towns  and  villages  they  might  carry  with  them  some  zeal  for 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  work.  The  complaint  is  that  the  profes- 
sional men  and  learned  class  are  not  doing  much  in  this  direction. 
The  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  was  founded  in  Paris  by  6  or  7 
Arts  and  Medical  students  —  Ozanam,  I  think,  was  only  21  and 
he  was  the  eldest:  and  the  idea  was  to  help  the  poor  out  of  a 
greater  knowledge  and  influence,  rather  than  out  of  material  goods: 
"silver  and  gold  they  had  not  much  —  but  they  had  knowledge." 
The  complaint  is  that  the  Society  in  Ireland  is  mainly  carried  on 
as  an  organization  to  give  material  reliej:  what  truth  there  is  in 
this  notion,  I  know  not. 

Anyway  the  University  Conference  was  started:  and  it  con- 
tains the  best  intellects  amongst  the  students  and  Professors  now 
in  Dublin:  at  starting  we  need  two  things:  (i)  first  and  foremost, 
an  instruction  on  Social  work,  and  its  connection  with  intelligent 
men,  and  particularly  with  the  rich  in  mental  as  well  as  in  bodily 
goods. 

(2)  We  must  work  up  a  few  funds  for  the  winter.  His  Grace 
has  allotted  to  us  a  district  in  his  own  Parish  of  Westland  Row, 
and  one  of  the  Curates  there  is  chaplain.  The  weekly  meetings 
are  held  in  the  college.  (Here  follows  a  diagram  giving  the  bound- 
aries of  the  district,  which  includes  the  area  between  the  river 
[LifFey]  and  Brunswick  street  in  one  direction,  and  from  O'Connell 
Bridge  to  Lombard  street  in  the  other.)  That  district  is  one  of 
the  poorest  in  Dublin,  and  it  is  the  "dumping"  ground  of  the 


342         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

proselytisers  —  they  have,  I  think,  3  (or  4  even)  traps  set  there 
—  a  mission  Hall,  a  child's  school,  a  Refuge,  &c. 

Geoffrey  Austin  and  The  Triumph  of  Failure  have  done  sugges- 
tive work  amongst  the  Arts  and  Medical  students.  Those  books 
have  had,  and  have  a  moral  influence.  They  were  alluded  to  last 
night  at  the  weekly  meeting  of  Conference,  and  I  was  asked  to 
write  to  Your  Reverence  to  know  if  you  could  do  for  us,  what 
all  felt  you  alone  could  do  so  well,  —  i.e.  lift  the  Conference  into 
a  sphere  where  its  ideal  would  become  forever  a  high  one,  — and 
capable  of  giving  understanding  to  those  concerned,  as  to  social 
work  and  its  connection  with  the  life  energies  of  those  gifted  with 
brains  as  well  as  money;  saying  something  about  the  life  and 
needs  of  the  poor,  etc.  (The  Lecture  would  be  valuable  as  a 
pamphlet  after.)  The  Conference  would  be  a  success,  if  it  had 
just  this  now.  Then  as  to  the  second  point  such  a  lecture  would  be 
a  profit  and  a  treat  for  every  Conference  in  Dublin.  They  would 
crowd  to  hear  it,  and  we  could  put  a  i/s.  or  6/d.  on  the  door 
for  our  funds.  Fr.  Delaney  bids  me  tell  you  from  him  how  grate- 
ful he  would  be  to  you  if  you  could  consent  to  do  this  —  in  the 
great  Hall  of  the  College  here,  —  the  first  week  in  December,  or 
the  last  in  November  would  be  a  good  moment  for  a  lecture  —  in 
its  effect  upon  the  Conferences  of  Dublin.  You  would  speak 
indeed  to  all  the  Conferences  in  Ireland.  I  can  send  you  any 
amount  of  material  as  to  details  or  history. 

Yours  respect'ly  and   sincerely, 
J.  Darlington,  S.J. 

Herein  one  sees  what  was  Canon  Sheehan's  position  in 
respect  of  University  education  for  the  youth  of  Ireland. 
For  the  rest,  he  labored  to  bridge  over  hostile  antipathies 
by  cooperation  with  men  of  influence,  though  non-Catholic, 
in  the  same  field.  For  this  we  have  the  unbiased  testimony 
of  Lord  Castletown,  who  writes:  "At  the  time  when  I 
was,  at  Mr.  Birrell's  request,  endeavoring  to  form  a  basis 
of  consent  between  the  various  political  parties,  for  the 
building  up  of  a  National  University,  I  received  immense 
assistance  from  my  friend  Canon  Sheehan.  His  knowledge 
of  what  was  actually  wanted  reached  to  the  very  root  of 
things.  As  I  was  then  Chancellor  of  the  Royal  University, 
we  were  able  to  work  out  a  fairly  satisfactory  scheme  to- 


Chap.  V]  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  343 

gether.  I  believe  that  the  National  University  has 
been  a  success,  and  I  am  glad  to  think  that  my  dear 
friend  and  I  had  some  small  influence  in  shaping  its 
destinies." 

Despite  Canon  Sheehan's  reluctance  to  leave  his  parish, 
the  interest  which  he  habitually  took  in  the  educational 
progress  of  Ireland  drew  him  into  not  infrequent  engage- 
ments to  lecture  at  Dublin,  Cork,  Limerick  and  other  towns 
remote  from  his  home.  Occasionally  his  addresses  were 
delivered  to  large  bodies  in  which  non-Catholics  predomi- 
nated; and  if  his  words  did  not  always  produce  the  convic- 
tion that  leads  to  conversion,  they  invariably  made  a  deep 
impression,  of  which  the  following  attestation  furnishes 
a  fair  example:  1 

Trinity  Chambers,  Cork, 
Oct.  20,  1906. 

Dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

As  one  of  the  Catholic  members  of  the  Council  of  the  Literary 
and  Scientific  Society  of  this  City,  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing 
to  you  my  warmest  congratulations  on  the  rare  intellectual  treat 
which  your  lecture  afforded  those  who  had  the  good  fortune  to 
be  present  at  it.  I  am  a  member  of  this  society  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century;  and  I  have  listened  to  some  of  the  eminent 
lectures  of  ourtime  being  delivered  under  its  auspices;  and  I  can 
call  to  mind  but  two  lecturers  who  made  the  same  impression 
on  the  audience  as  you  produced.  They  are  the  late  Sir  John 
Pope  Hennessy  and  Dr.  Molloy.  It  was  indeed  a  proud  position 
for  us  Catholics  to  find  that  we  have  among  our  priests  men  like 
yourself  whose  great  ability  and  wisdom  in  voicing  that  ability 
are  capable  of  inspiring  not  only  the  respect  and  applause  of 
Catholics  but  equally  so  of  Protestants  who  very  often  go  to  hear 
priests  with  very  critical  minds.  I  have  never  heard  any  lecturer 
listened  to  with  more  attention  and  I  have  rarely  heard  such  a 
unanimous  chorus  of  approval  as  that  which  your  brilliant  lecture 
produced,  and  when  I  tell  you  that  the  audience  consisted  of  sixty 
per  cent  of  Protestants  and  that  it  represented  in  the  fullest  sense 
the  literary  life  of  Cork,  we  Catholics  have  abundant  reasons  for 
congratulating  ourselves  on  the  splendid  record  made  for  us  on 
Thursday  evening. 


344         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

May  you  long  continue  to  be  the  standard  bearer  of  the  in- 
tellectual life  of  Ireland,  is  my  earnest  wish. 

I  am,  dear  Canon  Sheehan, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

M.  J.  Stapleton. 

Sometimes  the  invitations  came  from  abroad,  from 
Truth  societies,  collegiate  bodies  or  literary  associations  in 
England  or  Scotland,  as  well  as  from  distant  parts  of  Ireland; 
and  then  he  found  it  necessary  to  write  and  transmit  his 
thoughts  to  be  read  by  someone  else.  Occasionally  he 
talked  across  the  seas.  In  1904  Archbishop  Carr,  of  Mel- 
bourne, having  read  Canon  Sheehan's  address  to  the  students 
at  Maynooth  College  on  "The  Dawn  of  the  Century," 
sent  him  an  urgent  request  to  contribute  a  paper  to  the 
Second  Australian  Congress.  This  the  Canon  promptly 
did,  and  the  address  was  highly  spoken  of  in  the  press. 
Quite  apart  from  this  are  his  numerous  contributions  to  the 
homiletic  literature  of  English-speaking  countries  printed 
in  magazines  and  newspapers. 


VI 

CARE    OF    THE    PARISH    CHURCH 

CANON  SHEEHAN  on  entering  upon  his  pastorate 
at  Doneraile  had,  as  we  have  seen,  become  respon- 
sible for  the  care  of  two  churches,  seven  schools, 
and  two  religious  communities.  Two  curates,  separately 
domiciled,  assisted  him.  Whilst  all  worked  hand  in  hand 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  religious  spirit  and  general  welfare 
of  the  parish,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  he  took 
by  far  the  larger  share  of  the  parochial  duties  upon  himself. 
He  preached  regularly  every  Sunday  and  holyday,  apart 
from  the  instructions  he  gave  to  the  children.  His  visi- 
tation of  the  parish  and  the  schools  was  thorough  and  con- 
stant. He  took  every  opportunity  of  knowing  his  people 
and  studying  their  needs.  He  spoke  to  them  of  the  training 
of  their  children,  the  share  they  were  to  take  in  the  life  of 
the  community,  their  work,  their  employers  and  neighbors. 
By  these  means  he  taught  them  to  avoid  friction  and  mis- 
understanding, and  so  he  kept  alive  a  spirit  of  harmony 
among  the  farmers  and  laboring  classes.  The  employers 
and  officials  who  lived  in  Doneraile,  and  who  knew  his 
prudent  and  disinterested  ways,  were  glad  to  accept  his 
suggestions,  and  there  existed  a  mutually  benevolent 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  population  and  the  district 
authorities. 

It  was  well  understood  that  to  be  in  disgrace  with  Canon 
Sheehan  was  to  be  in  disgrace  with  the  community,  for  it 
was  a  sure  sign  of  being  in  the  wrong.  With  his  own  people 
he  insisted  upon  punctuality  and  the  fulfillment  of  their 
obligations  to  the  tradesmen  and  storekeepers;  he  counseled 
at  all  times  economy  and  thrift  and  saw  to  it  that  just  wages 
were  given  the  men.  Exactness  and  promptness  in  making 
necessary    repairs,    especially    for   the    church    and    school, 

34S 


346         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

were  characteristic  of  his  management.  Everywhere  he 
advocated  the  maintenance  of  pubhc  and  domestic  order. 
To  protect  the  people  from  the  intolerance  of  petty  officials 
he  urged  regularity  in  the  payment  of  taxes  and  rents. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  never  spoke  of  money  from  the 
altar  or  in  the  church,  unless  he  was  called  on  to  do  so  in 
behalf  of  the  diocesan  or  local  charities.  What  he  said 
in  this  way  was,  like  all  his  discourses  to  the  people,  well 
prepared,  brief,  and  to  the  point.  None  ever  misunder- 
stood him,  and  none  who  heard  him  failed  to  be  the  better 
for  it,  though  he  spared  no  individual  if  there  was  question 
of  sin.  When  the  evil  had  been  corrected  there  remained 
no  thought  of  it  in  his  mind.  His  parishioners  were  satis- 
fied when  he  gave  them  a  "sound  tongue  thrashing,"  for 
they  knew  it  meant  that,  the  fault  having  been  repaired, 
they  were  so  much  the  more  in  his  good  graces.  It  was 
a  joy  to  them  to  see  him  on  Sundays  in  front  of  the  church, 
after  he  had  said  the  earlier  Mass,  talking  to  the  old  folk 
and  to  the  children.  They  knew  he  had  a  kindly  eye, 
especially  on  the  poor.  Many  a  quiet  grief,  elicited  by  his 
scrutiny  and  questioning  in  that  hour,  found  its  solace  and 
answer  without  noise  or  ostentation  during  the  week.  Any 
kind  of  suffering  was  the  key  to  his  heart  and  brought 
him  to  the  home  or  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  or  to  the  authori- 
ties who  could  quietly  relieve  the  distress. 

The  pretty,  though  modest,  church  at  Doneraile  invites 
devotion.  The  Canon  was  most  exact  in  carrying  out  the 
hturgical  prescriptions,  and  the  great  festivals  were  occasions 
of  joy  to  all  the  people.  Even  the  Holy  Week  services 
were  carried  out  in  that  village  church  as  they  are  in  a 
cathedral.  He  himself  gives  us  a  description  of  how  he 
conducted  the  Tenebrae.  For  the  ordinary  days  of  Lent 
there  were  rosary,  sermon  and  Benediction  in  the  evening, 
and  the  people  came  to  attend  the  services  at  all  times. 

We  had  the  office  of  Tenebrae  last  night  here,  even  here,  in  this 
remote  village;  and  we  sang  the  solemn  dirges  of  Jeremias,  and  my 
good  little  choir  did  harmonize  the  Benedictus  and  the  Miserere. 
It  was  not  quite  so  impressive,  perhaps,  as  what  you  have  heard, 


PARISH    CHURCH,    DONERAILE 


hi 

g 

I^H           '        *^    ,^j^^^p 

Hpp 

'"■ILwf* 

Ij^^jfi^^  ^yQr5ir^"''~«,..SW! 

^^^^^^Bl  '  JJH  tJI 

ip 

Bh 

MAIN    STREET,    DONERAILE 


Chap.  VI]        CARE  OF  THE  PARISH  CHURCH  347 

so  many  times,  in  the  Sistine  Chapel;  but  it  was  well  sustained, 
and  correct,  and  sure,  if  our  poor  people  only  followed  it  in  their 
heads  and  hearts,  well,  it  must  have  left  sweet  and  soothing,  and 
penitential  feelings  there. 

On  Good  Friday  he  writes: 

It  falls  cold,  and  chill  and  mournful  upon  us  all!  Yesterday 
was  so  bright  and  joyous,  we  forgot  we  were  in  Lent.  And  the 
altar  was  so  beautiful,  with  its  red  candles  (are  not  candle  flames 
always  red  in  daylight?)  and  huge  masses  of  flowers  —  spring 
flowers,  narcissi,  and  tulips,  and  hyacinths,  and  the  lily  of  the 
valley  —  all  throwing  out  the  incense  of  their  humble  hearts 
before  the  feet  of  the  hidden  Creator.  And,  all  day  long,  our 
Children  of  Mary,  in  their  blue  cloaks,  divided  the  hours  among 
them,  so  that  there  never  was  a  fear  that  our  dear  Lord  should 
be  left  even  for  a  moment  alone.  But  there  was  no  danger  of  that! 
for  all  day  long  the  people  thronged  and  dwelt  in  the  little  church, 
until  very  late  at  night,  when,  with  a  kind  of  pang,  as  with  parting 
with  a  beloved  one,  one  by  one  the  candles  were  extinguished,  and 
the  doors  closed,  and  God  left  alone  with  His  angels!  But  this 
morning  there  was  a  flash  of  lights  for  a  moment  again  which  was 
instantly  darkened  after  the  procession  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament; 
and  the  deep  gloom  of  black  drapery,  hushed  bells,  mourning 
vestments,  and  the  solemn  Figure  on  the  cross  fell  on  our  hearts 
and  senses. 

Then  came  Holy  Saturday  and  he  puts  dov^n  his  thoughts 
again : 

We  had  Tenebrae  again  last  evening;  and,  of  course,  a  Passion 
Sermon.  In  one  sense,  the  Passion  Sermon  is  the  greatest  ora- 
torical event  of  the  year  in  Ireland.  Men  go  to  hear  the  Passion 
Sermon  who  won't  go  to  Mass.  Protestants  always  attend.  It 
is  de  rigueur.  The  priest  is  chosen  for  the  office  as  far  back  as  Ash 
Wednesday;  and  if  he  is  young,  and  hasn't  yet  learned  that  the 
breath  of  popular  applause,  called  Fame,  is  a  very  futile  and 
fugitive  thing,  he  is  naturally  nervous  and  apprehensive.  The 
lines  of  the  sermon,  too,  are  strictly  limited.  It  must  extend  to 
an  hour  at  least.  Anything  short  of  that  is  a  disappointment; 
and  it  must  follow,  detail  after  detail,  the  Gospel  narrative. 
Any  departure  from  that  is  viewed  with  great  displeasure  by  the 
people,  and  is  gravely  censured  by  the  older  priests. 


348         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

"'Twas  a  good  sermon  enough;  but  it  was  not  a  Passion  Ser- 
mon," is  the  verdict. 

If  the  young  priest  has  physcial  endurance  to  carry  him  over  the 
two  hours,  he  is  immortahsed.  Everyone  feels  that  real  justice 
has  been  done  to  that  sacred  and  ineffable  theme.  And,  dear 
me!  how  it  touches  their  Catholic  hearts!  And  how  they  crowd 
around  that  pulpit.  Here,  just  behind  me,  two  or  three  are 
leaning  over  the  altar  rails;  beneath,  the  children  have  poked  in 
their  heads  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  *' strange  priest."  The 
women,  with  hooded  heads,  are  rocking  themselves  to  and  fro, 
under  the  magic  of  the  eloquence:  now  and  again,  some  young 
girl  covertly  takes  out  her  handkerchief,  and,  wiping  her  eyes 
hastily,  tries  to  look  impassive  and  unconcerned.  Ah,  me!  'tis  no 
use.  That  story  of  infinite  suffering,  infinite  patience,  and  in- 
finite love,  will  continue  to  touch  the  human  heart  until  the  dread 
time  comes  when  the  selfishness  of  modern  life  shall  dry  up  all  the 
springs  of  human  affection,  and  the  divinest  examples  of  self- 
surrender  and  abnegation  cease  to  touch  the  films  of  eyes  that 
stare  blindly  and  unknowingly  at  them. 

Ah,  well!  the  sermon  is  over,  the  Tenebrae  concluded;  the  little 
children  have  gone  home  in  the  dark  clinging  to  their  mothers, 
and  wondering.  And  Holy  Saturday  has  dawned  —  the  brightest 
day  in  the  year  in  my  reckoning.  For,  after  all,  Easter  Sunday  is 
but  a  second  and  revised  edition  of  Holy  Saturday.  Surely,  all 
the  joy  and  exultation  of  the  Resurrection  has  spent  itself,  when 
after  the  blessing  of  the  font  and  the  Paschal  fire  (always  remi- 
niscent of  St.  Patrick  and  Tara),  and  the  mighty  candle,  and  the 
prophecies  and  litanies,  we  flung  off  our  plain  albs  and  purple 
vestments,  and  tore  away  the  violet  veils  from  the  statues,  and  the 
organ  peeled  out  at  the  Gloria,  and  the  great  bell  rang,  and  the 
acolytes,  on  tiptoe  of  expectation,  pealed  out  a  salvo  of  bells  at 
the  word !  And  then  that  glorious  "  Regina  Coell,"  by  Lambillotte, 
is  it  not?  I  don't  know,  and  I  don't  care;  nor  do  I  know  or  care 
whether  it  is  strictly  classical,  or  Cecllian,  or  what  not.  I  leave 
all  that  to  the  dreadful  people  who  laugh  and  cry  by  rule.  All  I 
know  is  this  —  that  the  splendid  accompaniment  seems  to  my 
uncultivated  senses  to  harmonise  with  all  the  Rubrical  require- 
ments of  this  great  morning.  It  would  not  be  out  of  place  as  the 
orchestral  rendering  and  resurrection-song  of  the  great  final  day. 
Then  Magnificat,  short  Vespers;  and  Holy  Week  Is  over!  There 
is  one  drawback.     The  Lenten  fast  should  close  on  Good  Friday 


Chap.  VI]        CARE  OF  THE  PARISH  CHURCH  349 

night  at  twelve  o'clock.  It  is  not  congruous  that  after  the  mighty 
exultation  of  the  Holy  Saturday  ceremonies  we  should  have  to  sit 
down  to  a  Lenten  breakfast. 

But  on  Easter  Sunday  he  carols  forth  his  joy  and  repents 
of  and  retracts  what  he  said  above: 

Easter  Sunday  is  not  a  replica,  or  second  edition  of  anything 
else  on  earth.  It  stands  alone.  This  morning  the  children  got 
up  early  to  see  the  sun  dancing;  for  in  Ireland  the  sun  dances 
with  joy  on  the  Resurrection-morning.  And  all  the  neighbors, 
thronging  to  Mass,  are  joyful;  and  "A  happy  Aisther!"  is  going 
all  round.  We  had  an  immense  Communion;  and  at  High  Mass 
an  immense  congregation. 

*"Twas  aiqual  to  any  two  Masses  I  ever  heard  before,"  says  a 
farmer  from  a  neighbouring  parish,  who  saw  High  Mass  for  the 
first  time.  And  the  "Victimae  Paschali"  was  lovely;  and  again 
my  heart  leaped  at  the  "Regina  Coeli";  and  I  thought  I  heard  all 
Heaven  tumultuously  echoing  that  mighty  paean  of  triumph  to 
their  great  Queen.  And  the  boys  bolted  at  the  Alleluias  of  the 
Ite  Missa  Est,  as  is  usual  all  the  world  over.  But  they  made  up 
for  it.  For  here,  under  my  window,  all  the  week,  they  are  shouting 
Alleluia!  whenever  they  peg  a  top  or  hit  a  marble;  and  all  nature 
is  singing  Alleluia!  for  it  is  springtime,  and  the  green  buds  are 
hanging  on  the  trees,  just  ready  to  burst  forth;  and  the  incense 
that  hangs  around  the  garments  of  the  virgin  season  is  afloat  in 
the  air;  and  the  river,  there  under  the  bridge,  is  murmuring 
Alleluia!  and  the  red-beaked  blackbirds  and  the  speckled  thrushes 
are  shouting  Alleluia!  And  the  noisy  larks  are  filling  the  heavens 
with  Alleluia!  and,  oh,  dear  me,  all  Ireland  would  ring  with  Al- 
leluia! from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  cliff*  to  cliff":  but  alas!  it  is  as  yet 
only  a  feeble  prelude,  for  her  resurrection-day  has  not  dawned; 
and  no  one  has  yet  arisen  to  answer  the  mournful  question: 

"Who  will  roll  back  for  us  the  stone  at  the  mouth  of  the  sep- 
ulchre.?    For  it  is  very  great!" 

He  had  a  reverent  and  abiding  devotion  to  our  Blessed 
Lady.  "Mary  is  the  Mother  of  God  and  our  Mother  — 
the  solitary  boast  and  only  perfection  of  our  fallen  nature; 
woman,  yet  more  than  angel;  human,  yet  raised  to  a  per- 
fection it  is  not  given  to  any  other  creature  to  attain;  created 
and  finite,  but  in  the  world  of  grace  omnipotent  —  such 


350         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

is  Mary,  and  as  such  do  we  reverence  her,  mingling  our 
reverence  with  our  tenderest  affection  and  unfaiHng  con- 
fidence." She  was  the  model  which  he  would  have  the 
maidens  of  Ireland  pattern  after.  To  her  image  he  recurred 
at  all  times  in  his  sermons  and  instructions;  as  is  manifest 
from  his  volume  Mariae  Corona.  Indeed  in  a  manner 
he  dedicated  all  his  work  for  the  honor  of  God  through  the 
Immaculate  Virgin  Queen.  The  Sedes  Saptientiae  was 
the  source  of  many  of  his  best  inspirations.  He  would 
frequently  arrange  that  the  completion  of  a  work,  a  book 
written  by  him,  should  coincide  with  some  feast  day  of 
Our  Lady:  "I  want  this  to  be  a  feast  day  gift  for  her," 
he  would  say. 

Animated  with  such  sentiments,  it  was  his  constant 
endeavor  to  render  the  offices  of  the  Church  attractive 
and  devotional;  and  it  is  marvelous  how  well  he  succeeded 
in  eliciting  the  cooperation  of  the  people  toward  making 
the  life  of  the  Church  the  guiding  motive  of  their  aspirations 
and  actions. 

The  Canon,  although  not  a  trained  musician,  readily 
discriminated  between  what  was  really  devotional  and 
worthy  of  God's  service  in  church  music  and  the  vulgar 
varieties  of  popular  tunes  and  sentimental  melodies  that 
are  often  heard  in  church  choirs.  He  himself  composed 
some  admirable  and  easily  interpreted  hymns  in  honor  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  and  of  Our  Blessed  Lady.  Some  of  these 
have  found  a  larger  circle  since,  and  are  being  sung  by  the 
children  in  many  parishes  not  only  in  Ireland,  but  also 
in  America  and  Australia. 

The  parish  choir  of  Doneraile  was  reputed  to  be  one 
of  the  best  town  choirs  in  the  South  of  Ireland.  Every 
Christmas  the  Canon  gave  the  members  a  royal  supper 
at  which  he  himself  presided.  The  entertainment  was 
followed  by  music,  singing,  and  homely  dancing.  Whilst 
the  pastor,  who  had  an  agreeable  voice,  rarely  sang  at  social 
gatherings,  he  never  failed  to  contribute  his  share  of  the 
mirth  by  singing  at  his  choir  party.  Among  his  favorite 
songs  for  these  occasions  were  "The  Irish  Brigade,"  "The 


Chap.  VI]        CARE  OF  THE  PARISH  CHURCH  351 

West's  Asleep,"  **A  Nation  Once  Again,"  "Who  Fears  to 
Speak  of  'Ninety-Eight'  ?"  etc.  At  the  last  gathering  of  this 
kind  he  was  too  ill  to  sing;  but  in  place  of  the  expected  song 
he  told  a  story  —  or,  what  seemed  to  those  who  heard  him, 
an  allegory.  The  priests  who  were  present  recognized  that 
he  made  a  review  of  his  life  among  his  people,  though  in 
the  third  person.  They  say  that  it  seemed  "the  most  beau- 
tiful thing  that  had  ever  come  from  his  tongue  or  pen." 

Quite  in  harmony  with  his  care  of  the  divine  services  was 
his  eagerness  for  the  outward  beauty  of  the  house  of  God 
and  everything  connected  with  it.  Cleanliness  and  good 
taste  were  everywhere  and  always  maintained.  The  altar, 
the  statues,  the  decorations,  all  received  his  minute  and 
reverent  attention.  It  was  his  particular  pleasure  to  have 
the  interior,  paintings  and  frescoes,  constantly  renovated, 
to  keep  them  fresh  and  beautiful.  And  all  this  he  did  for 
the  most  part  at  his  own  expense,  when  his  writings  brought 
him  a  fair  income. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  "Stations," 
that  is  the  outlying  villages  visited  periodically  by  the 
Canon  to  supplement  his  missionary  work  for  those  who 
found  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  come  to  the  parish  church. 
There  is  an  entry  in  one  of  his  notebooks,  and  given  in 
Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars,  in  which  he  speaks  of  a  young 
cleric  who  was  anxious  to  do  missionary  work.  "He 
intended  leaving  Ireland  and  going  abroad.  It  didn't 
matter  where.  He  wanted  work,  and  arduous  work,  and 
difficulties  and  trials.  Otherwise  he  could  never  find  his 
manhood.  Missionary  life  in  Ireland  is  merely  running  a 
knife  through  a  cheese.  You  couldn't  call  that  work  — 
could  you  now?"  said  the  young  seminarist. 

But  the  Canon  found  his  work  absorbing  enough;  although 
it  had  its  compensations  of  restfulness,  as  he  tells  us. 

It  is  no  joke  to  get  up  at  an  unearthly  hour  in  the  morning,  and 
to  speed,  in  very  variable  weather,  seven  or  eight  miles  to  the 
house  where  the  Station  is  to  be  held.  Sometimes,  after  snow, 
the  ground  is  so  slippery  we  have  to  pick  our  steps.  Sometimes 
Boreas   thunders    from    the    north,    out    between    the   mountain 


352         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

chasms,  and  across  the  bleak  March  landscape.  Sometimes  the 
South  wind  comes  up,  with  its  soft,  sweet,  heavy  burden  of  rain. 
But  at  all  times  one  is  glad  to  get  in  sight  of  the  farmer's  cottage, 
known  and  recognised  afar  off  by  its  fresh  coat  of  whitewash,  and 
the  little  group  of  men  waiting  in  the  haggart  before  the  door. 
There  is  a  cheery  welcome  from  the  master  —  the  husband  or 
the  eldest  son;  a  careful  picking  of  our  footsteps  across  the  muddy 
yard,  carpeted  with  fresh  straw;  a  bark  of  warning  from  the  vigi- 
lant collie;  a  still  more  warm  welcome  from  the  vanithee,  and 
then  we  settle  down  to  work. 

Frequently,  where  there  are  several  priests,  one  of  them 
accompanies  the  pastor.  They  hear  the  confessions  of  the 
people;  next  there  is  an  instruction,  and  then  follows 
Mass  at  which  those  who  attend  go  to  Holy  Communion. 
It  is  all  done  in  homely  fashion  in  the  farmer's  house  and 
the  people  gather  round  about  as  best  they  can  to  get  near 
the  priest. 

I  generally  leave  the  "parlor"  to  my  curate.  I  prefer  the  seat 
by  the  open  hearth,  where  piles  of  timber  and  coal,  and  occasionally 
a  heap  of  mountain  turf,  light  and  heat  the  whole  kitchen.  And 
here  is  the  "sugan"  chair,  made  of  twisted  hay;  but  the  vanithee 
rushes  out  with  a  grand,  new,  horse-haired,  well-springed  one, 
and  snatches  the  humble  seat  swiftly  away.  Right  opposite  me, 
a  withered,  venerable  woman  stoops  to  catch  a  little  heat  for  her 
poor  congealed  veins.  Her  beads  hang  down  as  they  roll  through 
her  fingers.  Here,  quite  close,  are  the  three  junior  scions  of  the 
house,  their  faces  shining  from  soap  and  the  fire,  their  pinafores 
spotless,  and  with  great  wonder  in  their  eyes  at  the  awful  appa- 
rition of  the  priest.  Silently  and  reverently,  one  by  one,  the  peni- 
tents come  and  kneel  on  the  hard  paving  stones,  bend  their  heads 
till  their  hair  touches  your  face,  and  make  their  simple  confession. 
Then  the  little  lecture,  the  Holy  Mass,  heard  so  reverently  and 
humbly.  All  is  still  as  death,  save  the  cackling  of  a  hen  in  the 
yard,  or  the  swift  carol  of  a  blackbird  out  on  the  ash  tree  beyond. 
The  station  list  is  called;  the  "pleasant word"  is  said;  and  then  the 
breakfast.  It  is  a  pretty  poor  business  in  Lent,  though  since  we 
got  the  dispensation  for  butter  it  is  not  quite  so  bad.  And  the 
vanithee,  with  great  pity  for  the  young  priests,  sidles  over  and 
whispers: 


Chap.  VI]    CARE  OF  THE  PARISH  CHURCH  353 

"Wisha,  yer  reverence,  what  about  a  couple  of  eggs?  It  is  a 
long  drive  and  a  cowld  morning." 

We  shake  our  heads;  and  the  talk  goes  round,  with  one  or  two 
of  the  neighbors  who  have  come  in  to  help  us;  and  it  is  all  about 
the  'Lague,'  or  the  landlord,  or  the  new  taxes,  or  the  Land  Courts. 
And  it  is  sad  and  almost  desperate  to  see  these  poor  people  toiling 
from  dawn  to  dark  to  make  the  "rint";  but  "Hope  springs  eternal 
in  the  human  breast,"  and  there  is  a  perennial  fountain  of  hope  in 
the  hearts  of  these  people.  "Well,  sure  God  is  good!"  There  is 
the  ultimate  syllable  on  the  Irish  tongue  —  faith,  deep,  profound, 
unshakable  in  the  eternal  clemency  and  protection  of  God. 

And  so,  cheerful  enough  after  our  cup  of  tea,  we  bid  "Good- 
bye!" to  our  good  hosts,  until  — 

"Give  Mary  your  blessin',  your  reverence;  she's  goin'  to 
America  next  week." 

My  heart  sinks  down  into  my  boots.  America!  America! 
draining  the  life-blood  of  Ireland.  All  that  is  fair,  and  beautiful 
and  healthy  going;  and  all  that  is  old,  and  decrepit  and  imbecile 
left  behind.     I  cannot  help  saying  angrily:  — 

"Why  can't  she  stop  at  home.^"' 

"Wisha,  yer  reverence,  what's  there  for  her?  We  have  enough 
to  do;  and  sure  the  sisters  in  Boston  have  paid  her  passage,  and 
will  meet  her  whin  landin'." 

There  is  no  use  replying.  With  a  bad  grace  I  place  my  hand 
on  the  thick  auburn  hair  of  the  poor  child;  and  my  curate  wonders 
all  the  way  home  why  I  am  so  silent  and  distracted.  I  cannot 
help  it.  This  whole  modern  and  universal  exodus  from  their 
native  land  is  maddening. 

These  visits  gave  him  opportunities  for  observation, 
and  much  of  his  w^riting  bears  the  impress  of  w^hat  he  saw 
and  heard  on  such  occasions  among  the  people.  In  a  letter 
to  Father  Russell  he  indicates  how  much  it  gratified  him  to 
be  out  on  these  excursions. 

DONERAILE,  Co.   CoRK. 

March  lo. 

Dear  Father  Russell, 

—  I  am  out  at  the  Country  Station  every  morning.  It  is  trying, 
particularly  when  the  roads  are  dangerous  from  frost;  but  I 
wouldn't  miss  them  for  anything.  It  is  just  such  a  pleasure  to 
meet  the  people  in  their  own  homes. 


354         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

Would  there  be  any  hope  of  reahzing  my  foolish  dream  of  creat- 
ing a  few  well-read  and  cultivated  circles  in  Ireland?  I  cannot 
bear  to  think  that  all  our  power  is  running  to  weed  in  angry 
political  strife  with  so  much  personal  acrimony.  I  am  always 
dreaming  of  an  Irish  youth,  silent,  modest,  reserved,  reading 
much  and  talking  little;  and  trying  to  bring  into  daily  life  some  of 
the  graces  of  civilisation.  .  . 

What  grieved  him  was  to  find  that  the  young  people 
everywhere  were  anxious  to  emigrate.  He  did  everything 
to  open  prospects  for  the  boys  and  girls  that  might  induce 
them  to  remain  at  home;  although  at  other  times  he  felt  that 
this  wholesale  exodus  was  providential,  that  it  was  in 
harmony  with  the  genius  of  the  race,  and  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  try  to  stem  the  outflow.     In  this  spirit  he  writes: 

I  know  it  is  the  genius  of  the  race.  We  were  always  exiles  and 
wanderers.  We  got  the  evil  impetus  from  our  Scythian  forefathers, 
who  struck  and  pitched  their  tents  of  skins  from  the  Balkans  to 
the  Urals,  and  from  the  Danube  to  the  Ganges.  It  was  the  same 
nomadic  spirit  that  drove  Dathi  and  his  soldiers  across  Europe  in 
their  terrible  crusade  of  fire,  until  their  mighty  king  was  smitten, 
from  Heaven,  under  the  snows  of  the  Alps.  It  was  the  same 
spirit  that  bade  Brendan  seek  the  Western  World;  and  his  com- 
panions the  forests  of  France  and  Germany.  Down  there  on  the 
Kerry  coast,  near  Smerwick,  where  Grey  de  Wilton  massacred  the 
four  hundred  Spaniards  who  laid  down  their  arms,  depending  on 
his  word  of  honor,  you  still  may  see  the  beehive  cells  where  the 
ancient  Irish  monks  rested  on  their  couches  of  rushes  —  cells  so 
constructed  for  this  race  of  mighty  ascetics  that  the  monk  could 
neither  sit,  stand,  nor  lie.  And  there  is  the  same  eternal  sea, 
where  they  found  their  choir-stalls,  for  there  up  to  their  armpits 
in  the  freezing  waters  they  stood  at  midnight,  and  sent  up  their 
penitential  chaunts  to  Heaven  with  no  organ  accompaniment 
but  that  of  howling  winds  and  thundering  waves.  But  were  these 
ascetics  of  the  Irish  Thebaid  content  with  this?  No!  After 
thirty  or  forty  years  of  this  violence  to  Heaven,  the  old  Celtic 
spirit  seized  them,  and  "  peregrinari  pro  Christo"  on  their  lips, 
up  they  arose,  and  on  these  frail  coracles,  such  as  those  you  may 
still  see  in  Kerry  and  Arran  —  poor,  fragile,  Nautilus-boats,  canvas 
stretched  on  a  few  planks,  they  went  forth  to  France  and  Germany; 


Chap.  VI]  "THE  EMIGRANT'S  RETURN"  355 

and  the  weaker  races  shuddered  before  their  Libyan  austerities, 
and  clamoured  for  the  milder  rule  of  Benedict  in  place  of  the  awful 
penalism  of  these  Irish  Culdees.  And  that  is  the  reason,  you  know, 
why  the  Benedictines  have  never  thriven  in  Ireland.  Well! 
**peregrinari!  peregrinari!"  there  is  still  the  destiny  of  the  race. 
Alas!  that  we  should  say  it:  It  is  no  longer  "peregrinari  pro 
Christo!"  but  "peregrinari  pro  Mammona!"  Ah!  yes!  the  dear 
old  Spartan  simplicity  of  Irish  peasant  life  is  yielding  to  the  se- 
ductions of  the  Zeitgeist:  we  want  the  city,  and  the  electric  light, 
and  the  saloon,  and  the  ball-room.  There's  the  secret  of 
Irish  emigration! 

There  is  among  the  occasional  musical  compositions 
which  he  attempted  from  time  to  time,  some  of  them  devo- 
tional, and  others  intended  for  popular  use,  one  that  shows 
how  he  sought  to  counteract  the  allurements  from  abroad. 
It  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  and  suggests  the  disappoint- 
ment that  awaits  the  emigrant  in  the  New  World. 


THE  EMIGRANT'S  RETURN 


Yerra  Denis,  me  bhuachall,  have  you  come  o'er  the  water? 

I  thought  you  were  still  upon  Knockmany  Hill; 
For  the  red's  in  your  cheeks,  and  the  spring  in  your  footsteps. 

For  the  scent  of  the  heather  it  hangs  round  you  still. 
Have  you  come  for  a  wife?     Have  you  come  for  a  fortune? 

You  are  handsome  enough  for  to  capture  a  queen! 
But  I  thought  you  would  never  abandon  Knockmany, 

And  they  said  you  would  marry  that  little  Eileen. 

DENIS 

'Tis  true  for  you,  friend,  that  I've  come  from  Knockmany, 
I  have  just  left  behind  me  that  steamer  from  Cork. 

But  I've  come  to  make  money;   and  I'll  make  it,  my  honey, 
If  there's  gold  to  be  found  on  the  streets  of  New  York. 


THE  EMIGRANT'S  RETURN 

Words  and  Music  by  Canon  Sheehan. 


^ 


i^ 


i^g 


^a 


:l!c 


-=^ 


Th« 


Terra  Den-is  mo  bhuachall,  have  you  come  o'er  the  water?   I 


^«= 


^=^5=z4^=i:^ 


:^= 


^ 


thought  you  were  still  upon  Knockmany  Hill;  For  the  red's  in  your 

I 


t- 


^ 


^ 


^ 


— • — ^ — ^ 

cheeks,  and  the  Spring  in  your  footsteps, And  the  scent  oj  the  heath- 


P^^i=^_J 


^=^ 


er  it  hangs  round  you  still. Have  you  come  for  a  wife?  Have  you 


fe=^ 


^ 


t 


'1^ 


iv--^ 


^ 


:f^ 


H^: 


#^« 


•— ^ 


-^— •- 


come  for  a  fortune?  Tou  are  handsome  enough  for  to  capture  a  queen: 


:f^ 


t=^ 


r- 


^ 


i^?^ 


:3± 


3;- 


^Mi  /  thought  you  would  never  a-bandon  Knock-ma-ny,  and  they 

(denis) 


^■. 


m. 4 ^ ^ g «_L^ ^ 0 ^j -^ — UL ^ -^ ^ 

said  you  were  married  to  lit-tle  Eileen.  *  Tis  thrue  for  you,friend. 


* 


S? 


5 


S 


:g=lfctt 


that  Vve  come  from  Knockmany ,  I  have  just  stepped  ashore  from  that 


^^=^ 


%-- 


-^ 


^■ 


:^hz^ 


steamer  from  Cork;  But  Vve  come  to  make  money,  and  I'll  make  it, 


'm 


± 


^— ?►- 


-|!^-N 


t=^: 


^ 


S— 


'-^ 


my  honey,  if  there's  gold  to  he  found  on  the  streets  of  New  York. 


Chap.  VI]       "THE  EMIGRANT'S  RETURN"  357 


II 

And  you're  sure  to  succeed.  —  But  you'll  pardon  my  longing 

To  hear  of  the  land  that  I  left  long  ago; 
Are  the  mountains  still  there  with  their  peaks  in  the  heavens. 

And  their  colours  that  glint  in  the  sun  and  the  snow.? 
How's  the  old  purple  heather,  where  the  hares  lay  in  hiding? 

Is  the  gorse  still  blooming  on  the  meadows  all  white, 
Where  we  heard  in  the  clover  the  wild  bees  ahumming 

And  the  daisies  and  buttercups  smiled  on  us  bright.?" 

DENIS 

Well,  there  isn't  much  change;  but  the  people  are  going; 

And  I  had  no  notion  of  stopping  in  Cork; 
So  I've  come  to  make  money;  and  I'll  make  it,  my  honey. 

If  there's  gold  to  be  found  in  the  streets  of  New  York. 

Ill 

Are  the  waters  still  running  where  we  sat  in  the  sunlight 

When  the  evening  was  breaking  o'er  mountain  and  dale, 
And  the  salmon  were  hiding  away  from  the  shallows, 

And  the  dew  was  falling  on  hillside  and  vale.f" 
Do  the  blackbirds  still  sing  in  the  groves  in  the  morning? 

Do  the  thrushes  trill  out  as  they  nest  in  the  wood  ? 
Do  the  robins  still  peck  for  the  crumbs  in  the  doorway? 

Do  the  swallows  skim  over  the  rivers  in  flood? 

DENIS 

Yerra  lave  me  alone  wid  yere  questions  and  answers; 

I  left  them  behind  when  I  started  from  Cork. 
For  I've  come  to  make  money;  and  I'll  make  it,  my  honey. 

If  there's  gold  to  be  found  on  the  streets  of  New  York. 

IV 

Is  there  frost  on  the  fields?     Is  there  snow  in  the  hollows? 

Is  th'  air  crisp,  as  of  old,  in  the  valleys  below? 
Are  there  riders  in  pink  on  their  lusty  horses? 

And  the  hounds  baying  loud  to  the:  Hark  —  Tally-Ho! 


358         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

And  over  the  furrows,  and  over  the  fences, 

Do  the  horsemen  still  plunge  when  the  hounds  have  the  scent? 
When  the  farmers  forget,  in  the  glee  of  the  moment, 

That  to-morrow  the  agent  will  press  them  for  rent? 

DENIS 

Yerra  —  what  do  I  know  about  huntin'  and  sportin'  ? 

You've  put  lead  in  me  heart  that  was  light  as  a  cork; 
For  I've  come  to  make  money;   and  I'll  make  it,  my  honey, 

If  there's  gold  to  be  found  on  the  streets  of  New  York. 


And  the  young  Irish  lads —  are  they  roguish  as  ever? 

Are  the  dear  little  colleens  as  sweet  as  of  yore? 
Do  the  old  people  talk  by  the  fire  in  the  evening? 

Is  there  bacon  and  praties  and  potheen  galore 
To  regale  the  good  neighbour  that  comes  in  the  gloaming. 

And  the  Irishman's  friend  who  we  know  will  not  fail? 
Do  they  sing  the  old  songs  with  the  lilt  and  the  music? 

And  the  sadness  so  sweet  in  the  tongue  of  the  Gael? 

DENIS 

Yerra,  what  do  I  care  about  music  and  dancin*. 

Though  they  say  that  my  steps  were  as  light  as  a  cork? 

Sure  I've  come  to  make  money;  and  I'll  make  it,  my  honey, 
If  there's  gold  to  be  found  on  the  streets  of  New  York. 

VI 

And  'tis  Sunday;   and  hark  —  there's  the  Mass-bell  atolUng, 

And  the  people  are  strolling  in  twos  and  in  threes 
To  the  little  ould  chapel  far  down  in  the  valley. 

And  the  little  bell  tower  peeping  out  of  the  trees. 
And  the  priest  —  he  is  late;   for  he  talks  with  the  neighbours. 

There's  no  hurry  nor  haste  on  the  holy  old  sod. 
And  the  dead  they  are  sleeping;   no  need  of  us  weeping; 

For  are  they  not  safe  in  the  bosom  of  God  ? 


Chap.  VI]        "THE   EMIGRANT'S  RETURN"  359 


DENIS 

Will  you  shtop  that  cadraulin;  will  you  shtop  that  cnofshaulin' 
Oh  it  is  just  what  you'd  hear  on  the  streets  of  ould  Cork. 

But  I've  come  to  make  money;   and  I  reckon,  my  honey, 
I'll  pick  it  up  in  the  streets  of  New  York. 

VII 

Do  they  dance  as  of  yore,  when  twilight  is  falling, 

And  the  night  breezes  softly  steal  over  the  lea; 
And  the  red  moon  is  climbing  behind  the  dark  shieling, 

And  the  scent  of  the  sea  weed  creeps  up  from  the  sea  ? 
And  the  skirl  of  the  pipes;  and  the  scream  of  the  fiddle, 

And  the  patter  of  brogues  on  the  ould  barn  floor 
And  Shemus  and  Eileen  fornint  to  each  other, 

With  their  hearts  as  light  as  their  feet  on  the  floor.? 

DENIS 

Yerra  —  T'ainim  a  Dia,  man,  you  are  drivin'  me  crazy  — 
To  the  divil  wid  you  and  the  shtreets  of  New  York! 

Keep  your  dirty  ould  money;   for  I  promise,  me  honey, 
I'll  go  back  with  the  steamer  that  lands  me  in  Cork. 


VII 

RELATIONSHIP    TO    PRIESTS    AND    RELIGIOUS 

THE  consideration  which  Canon  Sheehan  showed  to 
his  people  was  not  withheld  from  those  with  whom 
he  hved  and  labored.  He  went  to  great  pains  to 
keep  the  burden  of  the  work  off  his  curates.  On  Sundays 
he  was  invariably  on  hand  to  relieve  the  priest  who  said 
the  late  Mass  whenever  there  were  baptisms  to  administer 
for  those  who  came  from  a  distance.  He  had  great  tender- 
ness in  all  that  concerned  the  children.  It  was  curious  to 
see  him  on  cold  winter  mornings  trying  the  baptismal 
font,  and  bidding  the  chapel-woman  to  get  some  warm  water 
for  the  infants  who  were  to  be  christened. 

While  his  age,  delicate  health,  and  the  consideration  due 
to  him  as  pastor  entitled  him  to  certain  exemptions  from  the 
more  arduous  service  of  the  ministry,  he  never  thought  of 
availing  himself  of  these  privileges.  He  knew,  of  course, 
that  the  people  loved  him,  though  his  native  modesty 
led  him  to  underestimate  the  affection  with  which  they 
clung  to  him.  In  the  pulpit,  in  the  confessional,  on  sick 
calls  and  at  their  recreations,  the  young  as  well  as  the  old 
looked  for  "Father  Pat,"  if  he  could  only  "be  got  at." 

There  was  hardly  any  need  of  what  is  known  as  a  "mis- 
sion" in  the  parish,  so  long  as  the  Canon  was  in  active 
service.  The  people  knew  their  duties  and  those  who  could 
be  reached  did  their  best  to  fulfil  them,  even  if  it  were  but 
to  please  their  big-hearted  pastor.  Nevertheless  he  thought 
it  necessary  on  occasion  to  invite  a  strange  priest  to  hold  a 
"retreat"  for  the  parish.  The  last  time  a  spiritual  revival 
of  this  kind  was  held  was  in  Lent  of  1912.  The  Canon  had 
asked  his  friend,  Father  Phelan,  S.J.,  to  come  for  a  week. 
Although  he  was  under  the  stress  of  sickness  at  the  time, 
the  pastor  took  part  in  all  the  exercises  and  spent  himself 

360 


Chap.  VII]  PRIESTS  AND  RELIGIOUS  361 

freely  in  the  confessional.  One  of  the  priests  tells  how  an 
old  parishioner  remarked:  "These  missioners  may  as  well 
stay  at  home  as  be  thrying  to  bate  the  Canon  in  the  confes- 
sional, or  at  the  praching  aither;  he  is  the  best  of  the  lot 
of  them."  He  was  somewhat  scrupulous,  and  rather  dreaded 
hearing  people's  confessions,  especially  the  children's,  on 
account  of  the  responsibility  which  he  felt  it  entailed  in 
seeing  that  they  were  properly  disposed.  But  the  little  ones 
who  were  to  make  their  first  confession  instinctively  sought 
him  and  said  they  wanted  to  tell  everything  to  "Father 
Pat." 

Whilst  to  strangers  Canon  Sheehan  may  have  appeared 
distant  and  aloof,  those  who  came  in  close  contact  with 
him,  particularly  among  the  clergy,  knew  him  for  a  true 
"Daddy  Dan."  It  was  his  principle  to  bend  with  every 
bend  of  fitful,  crooked  human  nature  and  to  endeavor  to 
sound  every  cavity  in  the  heart  of  it,  so  as  to  make,  by 
gentle,  humble  yielding,  a  union  between  religion  and  the 
individual  soul. 

The  secret  of  the  Canon's  influence  with  the  clergy  lay 
in  his  personal  reverence  for  the  sacerdotal  calling.  He 
not  only  treated  priests  with  the  utmost  courtesy,  but  he 
was  most  sensitive  about  their  personal  reputation.  Indeed 
the  two  cardinal  convictions  on  which  he  was  fond  of  dwelling 
were  the  dignity  of  the  priest  and  the  sanctity  of  women 
^  in  Ireland.  He  summarized  vocation  to  the  priesthood  as 
the  possession  of  "the  virtue  of  loving  men,  and  the  talent  of 
making  them  know  it."  That  talent  was  held  to  be  of  the 
highest  value.  It  had  nothing  to  do  with  learning  or  culture 
or  external  accomplishments,  though  it  might  exist  with 
these  gifts  and  be  enhanced  by  them.  Among  numerous 
specimens  of  typical  priests  whom  he  has  pictured  for  us  — 
some  lovable  and  gentle  and  humble,  others  austere  and 
unyielding  in  their  stern  commands  to  bend  to  God's  law  — 
there  is  none  whose  efficiency  in  the  work  of  souls  he  does 
not  gauge  by  the  single  power  to  enter  into  the  weaknesses 
of  human  nature  and  to  stoop  to  them  in  true  ChristHke 
sympathy. 


362         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF   DONERAILE      [Part  III 

Of  his  old  companions-in-arms  among  the  diocesan  clergy 
he  saw  something  occasionally  at  their  ecclesiastical  con- 
ferences. Though  usually  silent  he  was  in  no  wise  formal 
at  such  meetings.  More  cordial  were  the  glimpses  which 
old  classmates  got  of  him  when  they  met  at  Kilkee  or  similar 
resorts  whither  the  Canon  would  at  times  go  for  a  rest. 
But  whether  he  saw  his  old  friends  or  not,  he  kept  himself 
informed  concerning  their  wellbeing,  and,  if  able,  he  visited 
them  in  illness.  Even  when  quite  near  his  own  end,  we 
find  him  writing  to  Father  Edmund  Morton,  who  had  been 
associated  with  him  as  curate  at  Mallow,  later  parish  priest 
at  Ballyhea: 

Although  the  Psalmist  says  that  after  seventy  years  there  is 
nothing  but  "labor  et  dolor"  I  regret  to  say  that  you  and  I  are 
anticipating  sadly.  I  am  hustling  along  in  the  teeth  of  many 
troubles,  trying  to  get  in  as  much  work  as  I  can  before  the  night 
falls.     Send  me  a  card  to  say  that  you  are  all  right  again. 

Ever  sincerely, 

P.  A.  She  EH  AN,  P.P. 

With  a  high  regard  for  his  brother  priests  generally,  he 
especially  admired  the  intelligent  zeal  and  the  ambitions 
of  the  younger  clergy  to  lift  themselves  out  of  the  groove 
of  tradition.  It  was  this  admiration  and  his  desire  to 
see  the  same  spirit  take  hold  and  spread  as  wide  as  possible 
that  caused  him  to  present  those  contrasts  of  Irish  clerical 
life  which  some  have  misinterpreted  as  a  desire  to  find 
fault.  If  there  was  anything  like  criticism  in  his  presenta- 
tion of  his  characters,  it  proceeded  from  the  high  regard  he 
had  for  the  cloth,  and  from  the  realization  of  the  tremendous 
power  which  the  priests  of  Ireland  possessed  to  change  the 
untoward  circumstances  of  the  time  into  blessings  for  the 
people.     With  no  lack  of  respect  he  ventured  to  say: 

The  Catholic  priesthood  knows  not  its  power.  If  it  did,  all 
forms  of  error  would  go  down  before  it.  The  consecrated  force 
of  so  many  thousand  intellects,  the  pick  and  choice  of  each  nation 
under  heaven,  the  very  flower  of  civilization,  emancipated  too 
from  all  domestic  cares,  and  free  to  pursue  in  the  domains  of 


Chap.  VII]  PRIESTS  AND   RELIGIOUS  363 

thought  that  subject  for  which  each  has  the  greatest  aptitude, 
should  bear  down  with  its  energy  and  impetuosity  the  tottering 
fabrics  of  human  ingenuity  or  folly. 

Here  as  in  most  other  places  are  hundreds  who,  freed  from  the 
drudgery  of  great  cities,  the  mechanical  grinding  of  daily  and  un- 
inspiring work,  are  at  liberty  to  devote  themselves  to  any  or  every 
branch  of  literature  or  science.  They  resemble  nothing  so  much 
as  the  outpost  sentinels  posted  on  far  steppes  on  the  outskirts 
of  civilization,  with  no  urgent  duty  except  to  keep  watch  and  ward 
over  tranquil  because  unpeopled  wastes;  and  to  answer  now  and 
again  from  the  guard  on  its  rounds,  the  eternal  question:  What  of 
the  night,  watchman?    Watchman,  what  of  the  night? 

In  a  spirit  of  wistful  sadness  he  recalls  the  days  of  his 
ancestors,  when  Irish  priests  were  also  the  champions  of 
universal  learning;  and  he  quotes  the  often  bitterly  hostile 
Protestant  writer,  Mosheim,  as  a  witness:  "These  Irish 
were  lovers  of  learning,  and  distinguished  themselves  in  these 
times  of  ignorance  by  the  culture  of  the  sciences  beyond  all 
the  European  nations;  the  first  teachers  of  the  scholastic 
philosophy  in  Europe,  and  who  so  early  as  the  eighth 
century  illustrated  the  doctrines  of  religion  by  the  principles 
of  philosophy." 

He  appreciated  of  course  the  esteem  of  his  superiors  as 
well  as  of  his  confreres.  From  his  Bishop  comes  the  willing 
testimony  that  the  reserved  pastor  of  Doneraile  maintained 
a  reverently  humble  attitude  at  all  times  in  his  intercourse 
with  the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  whilst  he  did  not  expect 
and  much  less  court  the  reward  of  popularity  or  place.  He 
meant  to  be  useful  on  earth,  and  his  compensation  would, 
he  knew,  surely  come  where  it  could  not  any  more  be 
belittled  by  vanity  on  his  own  part  or  by  envy  on  the  part 
of  others.  Hence  he  sincerely  put  aside  all  overtures  at 
advancement  to  what  might  be  considered  a  benefice  with 
increased  responsibility.  "It  is  my  prayer  and  earnest 
wish,"  he  wrote  to  a  dear  friend,  "to  lay  my  bones  in 
Doneraile,  among  the  people  whom  I  have  served." 

Although  he  had  always  championed  a  cultured  clergy 
and  held  that  learning  was  the  hallmark  which  had  distin- 


364         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

guished  Ireland's  priests  in  the  past,  there  were  other 
quaHties  which  he  deemed  of  greater  value  in  the  pastoral 
ministry. 

The  dignity  of  the  Church  is  derived,  not  so  much  from  the 
erudition  of  her  sons,  or  the  wonder-working  labours  of  her  apostles 
in  the  domain  of  science  and  art  and  literature,  as  from  the  manner 
in  which  she  has  stooped  down  and  addressed  herself  to  meeting 
the  more  vulgar  wants  of  humanity.  Yes,  there  is  a  Christian 
realism  as  well  as  a  Christian  idealism;  a  realism  that  comes  down 
from  the  loftiest  realms  of  speculative  thought  to  the  deepest 
abysses  of  human  infirmity;  a  realism  that  searches  with  no  pro- 
fane curiosity  into  hidden  places,  but  only  seeks  them  to  enlighten 
them;  a  realism  that  lays  bare  the  wounds  of  humanity  to  heal 
them,  the  sins  of  humanity  to  forgive  them,  the  wants  of  humanity 
to  relieve  them.  Guided  everywhere  by  the  divine  spirit  of  charity, 
it  consults  for  the  sinful  and  the  leprous.  In  its  cabinets  its 
thinkers  frame  subtle  laws  for  its  guidance,  and  stoop  from  the 
highest  altitudes  of  thought  to  consider  and  define  the  relations  of 
a  hind  to  his  master,  and  what  little  wrong  to  the  helpless  may 
debar  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Nothing  escapes  its  vigilance. 
However  hidden  under  dreary  platitudes,  it  detects  error  and  con- 
demns it;  and  it  surrounds  with  inexorable  and  iron  legislation  its 
sacred  things  and  its  most  sacred  interests  —  the  safety  of  souls. 

It  is  from  these  considerations  of  the  wondrous  work 
done  in  the  Catholic  Church,  through  her  sacramental 
ministry,  and  especially  in  the  confessional,  that  he  drew 
his  convictions  regarding  the  love  which  the  Irish  people 
bears  toward  their  priests.  And  he  appeals  to  them  in 
touching- words: 

You  priests  of  Ireland!  When  will  your  prophet  arise  to  tell 
you  what  an  ocean  of  faith,  and  love,  and  adoration  flows  softly 
and  silently,  without  break  or  murmur,  around  the  little  islets 
of  your  existence?  If  we  except  the  love  of  a  mother  for  her 
child,  earth  has  no  love  so  pure,  so  tender,  so  spiritual  as  the 
love  of  the  Irish  people  for  their  priests.  — And  yet,  what  a  gulf, 
yawning  and  impassable,  is  between  them!  No  matter  how  close 
the  ties  of  affection  may  be,  the  priest  moves  through  his  people, 
amongst  them,  but  not  of  them!  Consecrated  by  solemn  oaths, 
dedicated  to  high  and  sacred  purposes,  the  living  impersonation 


Chap.  VII]  PRIESTS  AND   RELIGIOUS  365 

of  principles  and  ideas  that  could  never  have  dawned  upon 
the  human  mind,  had  they  not  been  revealed,  he  walks  his  solitary 
way  through  life,  bending,  like  some  sublime  and  pitying  spirit, 
to  the  weakness  and  wants  of  humanity. 

He  had,  as  has  been  said,  disposed  of  the  main  income 
from  his  books  for  the  benefit  of  the  aged  and  sick  priests  of 
his  diocese,  and  the  fund  thus  created  had  been  placed 
in  the  care  of  a  body  of  trustees.  When  he  himself  w^as 
eventually  obliged  to  go  to  the  hospital  for  treatment, 
he  w^ould  not  draw  upon  this  fund,  despite  the  urging  of 
the  Bishop.  He  insisted  that  the  salary  he  received  from 
the  parish,  of  which  he  v^as  still  pastor,  because  the  Bishop, 
knovs^ing  the  wishes  of  the  people,  refused  to  relieve  him, 
would  be  quite  sufficient  to  defray  his  expenses,  and  that 
he  did  not  expect  to  need  much  extra  attention  at  the 
Infirmary. 

Averse  as  he  was  to  mere  social  visiting,  he  was  most 
anxious  to  have  those  of  a  congenial  mind  enjoy  his  hospi- 
tality. His  correspondence  amply  shows  this.  Whether 
friend  or  stranger  knocked  at  his  door,  Father  Sheehan 
was  invariably  the  courteous  and  considerate  host  and 
entertained  his  guests  in  a  generous  and  charming  manner 
calculated  to  leave  an  impression  on  the  heart's  memory. 
He  was  especially  fond  of  conversing  with  men  of  intellectual 
and  spiritual  habits,  and  most  of  these  found  in  him  not 
simply  an  appreciative  hearer,  but  one  who  might  be  looked 
upon  as  a  teacher  in  the  ascetical  science.  Withal  he  had 
a  thoroughly  practical  insight  into  actual  conditions  and  the 
discernment  to  make  his  views  on  spiritual  subjects  equally 
stimulating  and  edifying. 

"How  shall  I  thank  you,"  writes  the  Dominican  Father 
Vincent  McNabb,  *'for  the  extreme  graciousness  of  your 
invitation?  As  I  shall  be  at  Limerick  in  the  autumn,  I 
shall  look  upon  it  as  a  privilege  to  spend  the  night  under 
your  roof."  Similar  were  his  relations  with  the  religious  of 
Dublin  and  elsewhere,  especially  the  Capuchin  Fathers  and 
the  Sons  of  St.  Ignatius.  To  his  friend  Father  George 
O'Neill,  S.J.,  he  writes: 


366         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

Aug.  24,  1904. 

Dear  Fr.  O'Neill, 

I  assure  you  it  was  an  unqualified  disappointment  to  us  that  we 
had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  you  here  during  your  sojourn  in  our 
neighborhood.  I  say  "us"  because  the  Nuns  would  have  liked 
very  much  to  see  you;  and  that  Profession  Ceremony  and  De- 
jeuner, which  seemed  so  formidable  to  you,  was  a  very  informal 
and  undress  affair,  which  you  would  have  enjoyed  immensely. 

To  myself  personally,  a  visit  would  have  been  one  of  the  Tem- 
poral Works  of  Mercy.  If  I  could  have  pinned  you  down  to  a 
seat  in  my  garden,  and  in  the  most  secluded  corner  thereof,  and  let 
you  talk  at  me  for  a  couple  of  hours,  it  would  have  brightened 
existence  very  much  for  me.  For  you  cannot  conceive  how  much 
I  feel  the  loss  of  some  intercommunication  of  ideas  with  those 
who,  like  yourself,  could  bring  into  a  secluded  and  solitary  life 
some  of  the  ideas  that  are  stirring  the  world  outside.  You  do 
not  feel  the  need  of  these  stimulants,  because  you  are  every  day 
meeting  men  who  can  talk  your  own  language;  but  to  me  an 
hour's  conversation  on  those  subjects  that  interest  me  would  be  a 
pleasure  akin  to  that  of  hearing  one's  mother-tongue  in  a  foreign 
country.  See  what  you  deprived  me  of.  And  worst  of  all,  you 
went  away  hungry  and  footsore  from  our  door.  And  a  Dives' 
banquet  at  the  convent. 

I  am  pleased  to  have  the  correct  edition  of  St.  Teresa's  book- 
mark in  your  lines.  I  had  always  a  suspicion  that  there  was 
something  lacking;    but  I  took  my  own  as  the  orthodox  version. 

The  reason  I  like  Shelley  so  much  is  that  he  seems  to  me  the  most 
spiritual  English  poet;  and  he  also  seems  to  me  to  be  the  one  poet 
who  has  shaped  his  language  to  his  thought,  and  not  his  thought 
to  his  language.  Rhythm  seemed  to  come  at  the  back  of  thought; 
whereas  in  Tennyson  and  others  the  rhyme  seemed  to  be  framed 
first,  and  the  thought  called  upon  to  fill  in  the  spaces. 

It  cost  me  an  effort  to  write  as  I  did  about  Keats  whom  I  like 
so  much.     I  feel  that  I  was  disloyal  to  a  friend. 

I  would  send  you  my  last  book,  if  I  thought  it  worthy  of  your 
acceptance.  The  reviews  seem  to  make  the  mistake  of  regarding 
it  as  an  attempt  to  create  a  masterpiece,  instead  of  regarding  it  as 
a  jeu  d'echecs  written  off  to  help  a  charity.  I  was  unfortunate  in 
the  title.  My  own  title  was  The  Fate  of  Jiropos;  but  the  Nuns 
asked  me,  under  the  inspiration  of  a  priest,  to  change  to  the  present 
title.      The    2nd    scene  Jfter    the    Carnival,  which   Fr.    Russell 


Chap.  VII]  PRIESTS  AND  RELIGIOUS  367 

thinks  unreal,  is  a  verbatim  report  of  a  conversation  between 
three  young  ladies  overheard  in  a  carriage  between  Cork  and 
Queen  stown. 

I  am,  dear  Fr.  O'Neill, 

Your  sincere 
P.  A.  Sheehan. 


RELATIONS  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  BROTHERS  AND  TO  THE 
NUNS  OF  THE  PRESENTATION  CONVENT 

It  had  been  one  of  the  Canon's  most  anxious  cares,  as  it 
was  one  of  his  greatest  consolations,  to  safeguard  the  spiri- 
tual as  well  as  the  temporal  interests  of  the  religious  who  had 
aided  him  in  the  training  of  the  children  of  his  parish. 
These  helpmates  were  devoted  to  him.  The  spiritual  con- 
ferences which  he  gave  them  periodically  were  such  as  they 
could  not  easily  forget.  It  was  not  simply  his  beautiful 
diction,  but  much  more  his  burning  sincerity  and  piety 
which  reached  their  inmost  hearts.  His  reverence  for  the 
religious  state  was  of  the  same  order  as  that  which  he  had 
for  the  sacred  character  of  the  priesthood.  He  has  left  us 
a  picture  of  his  conception  of  the  life  of  a  religious  in  one  of 
the  chapters  of  his  Triumph  of  Failure.  He  describes  in 
some  detail  how  there  comes  to  the  soul  of  the  young  girl, 
often  in  the  very  midst  of  the  music  and  enjoyment  of 
worldly  pleasures,  a  strange  and  wondrous  attraction  that 
causes  her  to  turn  away  from  the  glamour  of  the  gay  society 
that  seeks  to  envelop  the  soul  with  roseate  dreams  of  earthly 
love  and  to  draw  it  with  whisperings  of  subtle  flattery. 
In  answer  she  offers  her  fresh  young  life  to  Christ  in  the 
retirement  and  renunciation  of  the  cloister.  "It  is  not 
weariness,  or  disgust  or  disappointment;  but  in  the  whirl 
of  the  dance  she  sees  a  crucified  Figure,  and  in  the  whispers 
of  love  she  hears  some  far-off  voice  that  touches  and  thrills 
her;  and  she  stands  out  at  once  from  the  crowd,  without 
reluctance,  without  doubt.  She  has  seen  the  nod  of  the 
Bridegroom's  head,  the  beck  of  the  Bridegroom's  hand." 

He  knew  that  a  great  deal  of  hidden  talent  as  well  as  virtue 
was  enshrined  within  the  convent  walls;   but  it  was  sacred 


368         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

there  because  enlisted  in  the  service  of  God,   instead  of 
drawing  the  vain  applause  of  the  world  outside. 

Why  there  is  more  talent,  nay  genius,  locked  up  in  our  Irish 
convents  than  would  suffice  to  create  a  new  civilization.  There 
are  women  there  who  could  sing  as  bravely  as  any  woman  from 
Sappho  to  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning;  but  they  are  mute  — • 
except  to  God.  There  are  artists  there  that  could  create  a  new 
school,  as  the  ragged  followers  of  St.  Francis  created  the  Um- 
brian  school,  but  they  paint  Agnus  Deis  for  little  children,  and 
scapulars  for  beggar  women.  There  are  girls  with  trained  voices 
who  would  be  smothered  with  bouquets  if  they  appeared  on  any 
stage  from  London  to  Naples,  and  they  sing  only  to  God.  For 
Him  they  compose,  for  Him  they  paint,  for  Him  they  sing;  they 
have  no  ambition  but  to  please  Him,  no  consolation  but  to  be  near 
Him,  no  hope  but  to  sit  at  His  feet  forever.  Oh  it  is  wonderful, 
especially  to  me  who  was  never  brought  up  at  a  convent  school, 
this  army  of  noble  women,  passing  by  in  disdain  all  that  the  world 
holds  dear,  and  conquered  by  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ. 

He  carefully  fostered  religious  vocations  and  he  had  a 
keen  discernment  in  this  regard.  Where  others  super- 
ficially saw  in  the  romping  ways  and  untamed  spirit  of  the 
young  but  a  love  of  independence  and  worldly  amusement, 
he  discovered  "the  deeper  wells  of  the  heart's  capacities 
that  would  some  day  drain  into  themselves  and  absorb  all 
the  superficial  tributaries  of  the  sounding  and  rushing 
waters."  And  indeed  reUgious  life  to  him  did  not  mean  a 
withdrawal  from  joy.  On  the  contrary  it  meant  a  sancti- 
fying of  all  that  is  human.  The  mirth  and  minstrelsy  of 
community  life  in  a  convent  were  to  him  the  surest  sign  of 
a  sane  spiritual  life.  The  convent  recreation  room  is  the 
abode  of  gladness,  and  there  he  would  find  music  and 
innocent  humor,  a  sympathy  begotten  of  that  aflfectionate 
reverence  with  which  the  Catholic  heart  regards  the  priest. 
To  the  aged  nun  he  is  as  a  son  who  has  attained  princely 
rank;  to  the  young  members  of  the  community  he  is  the 
father,  by  which  affectionate  title  all  smilingly  welcome  him. 

When  any  of  the  nuns  were  ill  he  saw  to  it  that  they  had 
the   best   medical   aid,   over   and   beyond   that  which   the 


Chap.  VII]  PRIESTS  AND  RELIGIOUS  369 

maternal  solicitude  and  efficiency  of  the  superior  and 
sisters  provided  for  the  members  of  the  community.  Whilst 
for  himself  he  wished  no  special  nursing  or  private  hospital 
treatment  when  ill,  he  was  most  anxious  that  invalids  of  the 
convent  should  have  the  benefit  of  the  first  medical  advisers. 
His  letters  to  the  nuns  attest  his  constant  solicitude  for 
everything  that  concerned  their  temporal  as  well  as  spirit- 
ual welfare.  Among  the  mass  and  variety  of  his  correspon- 
dence, touching  this  phase  of  his  solicitude  I  find  this: 

DoNERAiLE,  25  May,  1896. 

Dear  Sister, 

We  have  been  reading  all  your  letters  with  avidity.  To-day 
we  are  very  anxious  about  Sister  E.  I  fear  It  will  be  a  very 
critical  operation,  and  we  shall  be  watching  for  your  telegram. 
I  am  so  glad  now  that  you  went  with  them.  It  was  clearly  in- 
dispensable. Poor  Sister  A.  We  all  have  the  deepest  feeling, 
and  there  is  much  sadness  in  the  Community.  Fiat  Voluntas 
Dei!  I  think  all  the  papers  are  now  signed.  Sister  P.  is  very 
clear-headed  on  the  matter  and  I  think  my  part  of  the  work 
is  done.  I  would  advise  postponing  the  question  of  the  gas 
until  later  on.  When  you  come  back  (next  week,  I  hope)  we  must 
attack  the  school  question  seriously.  All  are  well,  D.  G.,  but 
hurry  back.  The  nuns  are  all  so  good,  so  sympathetic,  so  affection- 
ate, so  anxious.     They  are  beyond  all  praise. 

P.  A.  S. 

CASUAL    VISITORS 

With  strangers  he  was  uniformly  courteous.  For  many 
years  after  his  fame  had  gone  abroad,  he  was  besieged  by 
tourists,  mostly  visitors  from  America  who  had  read  My 
New  Curate,  and  wished  to  see  its  author.  To  these  he 
would  talk  of  himself  because  that  was  what  they  wanted 
to  take  home  with  them.  He  would  conduct  them  into  his 
modest  garden,  where  under  the  cedars  he  had  his  little 
table,  and  tell  them  how  he  wrote.  Some,  ungraciously 
and  lacking  power  of  interpretation,  took  this  for  the 
author's  vanity.  They  knew  not  how  reticent  Canon 
Sheehan  was  about  himself  and  how  little  he  revealed  of  his 
inner  self  even  to  those  who  were  in  the  best  position,  from 


370         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  III 

daily  association,  to  know  his  privacies  and  catch  his  short- 
comings. He  rather  enjoyed  these  inroads  upon  his  seclusion 
inasmuch  as  they  pleased  others  and  gave  him  an  opportunity 
of  studying  traits  and  dispositions  which  were  somewhat 
new  to  him.  Later  on,  especially  during  the  closing  months 
of  his  life,  when  he  was  never  free  from  pain,  he  was  less 
anxious  to  have  visits  from  those  who  through  promptings 
of  mere  curiosity  wished  to  meet  the  famous  author.  Never- 
theless, he  would  receive  with  the  utmost  urbanity,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  with  cordiality,  those  who  seemed  anxious 
to  converse  with  him.  On  these  occasions  the  Canon  could 
be  easily  interested  so  as  seemingly  to  forget  the  poor  state 
of  his  health.  An  educator  of  some  distinction  who  with- 
holds his  name  from  publication  called  upon  him  the  year 
before  his  death,  and  has  left  his  impression  in  the  following 
sketch : 

I  met  Canon  Sheehan  once  only.  I  had  driven  out  from  Mallow 
to  Doneraile  on  a  gray  wet  day  in  September,  and  when  I  went  to 
his  house  the  dark  was  already  down.  When  we  (for  a  friend  in- 
troduced me)  were  shown  into  a  neat  conventional  sitting-room  I 
was  more  than  a  little  depressed  and  uneasy.  For,  above  all 
things,  I  feared  that  the  Canon  might  suspect  me  of  being  out  for 
curiosity  or  mere  "copy"  in  his  house.  And  so,  when  we  were 
ushered,  a  few  minutes  later,  into  the  Study,  and  he  stood,  some- 
what coldly,  I  thought,  and  sadly,  to  welcome  us,  my  worst  fears 
seemed  to  be  realized.  Everything  appeared  in  order  in  the  room, 
books  stately  piled,  and  altogether  there  seemed  to  me  an  air  of 
English  dignity  about  the  place.  When  the  Canon,  sitting  by 
his  desk,  asked  me,  still,  as  I  thought,  with  a  kind  of  Victorian 
stiffness,  whether  I  would  take  "some  wine  or  a  little  coffee",  I 
was  quite  disturbed  by  the  slow  accuracy  with  which  he  spoke, 
and  in  my  embarrassment,  became  excited  and  began  to  talk 
away  freely  on  my  own  lines.  As  soon  as  my  friend  who  had  in- 
troduced me  saw  this  he  got  up  and  left  me  alone  with  the  Canon, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  more  the  whole  atmosphere  was  changed. 
For  I  began  to  see  that  my  host  wanted  to  hear  me  and  my  story, 
and  that,  empty  almost  of  vanity,  he  had  only  the  remotest  pleasure 
m  talking  about  himself.  In  the  hour  or  so  we  conversed  on  poetry, 
the  younger  writers  of  Munster,  the  Canon's  methods  of  literary 


Chap.  VII]  HIS    HOSPITALITY  371 

composition,  the  status  of  the  lay  teacher  in  Irish  Secondary- 
Schools,  the  recurrence  of  drink  and  drugs  in  the  history  of  poets, 
the  Music  Hall  audiences  at  Cork,  and  a  dozen  other  subjects; 
Canon  Sheehan  intensely  interested  in  them  all.  When  I  told 
him  I  would  like  to  settle  in  Ireland  as  a  Higher  Grade  Teacher 
if  only  I  secured  a  respectable  salary,  he  shrugged  his  shoulders 
and  said  —  "They  pay  the  doctors  well  because  they  are  trying  to 
save  things  already  in  decay,  but  the  Teacher  who  is  given  the 
care  of  the  very  beginnings  of  beauty  is  paid  no  more  than  the 
police-sergeant  who  watches   the   public-house." 

Canon  Sheehan  considered  the  teacher  next  in  importance  to 
the  priest  in  guiding  the  minds  of  the  young,  and  hoped  that  in 
the  new  Ireland  the  teacher  would  be  a  man  who  would  be  paid 
adequately  for  the  very  serious  and  important  work  he  was  doing. 
He  thought  that  the  national  teachers  were  not  treated  as  they 
ought  to  be  by  their  Commissioners,  that  they  were  not  raised 
up  to  the  plane  they  should  occupy  among  people;  and  this  want 
of  consideration,  and  the  miserable  stipend  given  to  them,  tended 
to  lower  their  position  and  influence. 

Turning  to  his  books  I  asked  him  what  method  of  writing  he 
followed.  "None  at  all,"  he  replied.  "I  just  go  walking  of  an 
evening  out  the  road,  my  brain  is  suddenly  stimulated,  and  I  come 
back  home  to  work  on  one  or  two  or  three  stories  or  articles  that 
I  am  writing."  "You  do  not  believe  in  a  regular  writing-day?" 
"No.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me."  On  poetry  the  Canon 
grew  eloquent  and  read  with  real  enthusiasm  from  Joaquin  Miller 
and  from  some  work  of  his  own.  The  picture  of  him  there  by  his 
desk,  on  that  wild  night  in  a  forlorn  Irish  town,  reading  poetry 
to  me  is  altogether  an  unforgettable  one.  For  it  was  the  older 
man  who  now  had  thrown  off  the  mask  and  was  a  flame  of  enthu- 
siasm, while  I,  grown  calm  by  contrast,  watched  his  burning 
cheeks,  his  flashing  eyes,  and  caught  the  quaver  in  his  voice  that 
told  me  better  than  all  else  how  rapt  he  was  at  his  own  utterance. 

I  felt,  at  once,  how  fine  a  leader  he  would  have  been  for  the 
younger  school  of  writers  in  Munster  whom  he  longed  to  meet, 
and  whose  rise  he  watched  with  a  tremendous  interest.  He  asked 
me  particularly  about  T.  C.  Murray,  the  dramatist,  and  Daniel 
Corkery,  the  leader  of  the  literary  revival  at  Cork.  It  was  plain 
that  he  was  anxious  to  meet  both  men,  but  the  modesty  bred  of 
restricted   environment  kept  them   apart.  .  .  . 

When  I  got  up  to  leave  after  my  one  and  a  half  hour's  stay  it 


FOREBODINGS 

IN  September  of  1910  Canon  Sheehan  went  to  Dublin  to 
consult  Sir  Charles  Ball,  the  eminent  surgeon.  On 
the  8th  of  that  month,  the  feast  of  the  Nativity  of 
Our  Blessed  Lady,  he  heard  his  death  warrant.  "He 
received  it,"  writes  a  friend,  the  only  one  to  whom,  besides 
his  brother,  he  told  the  object  and  result  of  his  visit  to  Dublin, 
"as  joyously  as  if  it  had  been  an  assurance  of  his  perfect 
cure."  He  had  insisted  on  being  told  not  only  the  exact 
state  of  his  illness,  but  the  complications  which  might  set 
in.  As  he  had  a  high  sense  of  the  moral  obligation  which 
forbids  the  unnecessary  use  of  anaesthetics  to  relieve  pain 
he  did  not  want  to  be  unprepared  for  what  might  come. 
The  surgeon  put  the  gravity  of  his  case  before  him;  and  left 
him  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  details,  which  were  such  as  might 
have  unnerved  the  strongest  nature.  He  took  a  brave  view 
of  things  and  accepted  the  verdict  of  the  medical  judge 
with  a  sense  of  contentment  for  which,  he  himself  said, 
he  was  deeply  grateful  to  God.  No  one  would,  on  his  return 
to  his  parish,  have  suspected  what  had  been  revealed  to 
him  by  the  physician,  on  whom  he  had  moreover  imposed 
strict  secrecy.  His  cheerfulness  and  unbroken  devotion  to 
his  duties  as  pastor  disarmed  suspicion  of  his  suffering  among 
those  who  loved  him  as  a  father. 

He  made  no  changes  in  his  daily  routine  during  the 
following  year.  Toward  the  summer  of  191 2  it  became 
evident  to  those  who  conversed  with  him  that  he  was  suffer- 
ing, almost  continually,  acute  pain.  His  regular  physician 
intimated  that  there  were  grave  symptoms  of  impending 
danger  which  demanded  that  he  should  observe  the  utmost 

375 


378         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE       [Part  IV 

No  man  was  ever  so  eager  to  live  as  I  was,  and  am,  to  die.  I 
think  the  wish  is  increased  by  the  amount  of  human  suffering  I 
hear  of  here.  The  whole  world  seems  to  be  diseased.  But  we 
must  struggle  on  until  the  night  falls.  I  suppose  I  shall  survive 
this  attack,  so  direct  all  your  prayers  to  one  object  —  that  I  may 
not  be  a  confirmed  invalid  for  life  and  a  burden  to  others.  This 
is  what  I  dread  most.  I  hope  you  are  all  well,  and  that  you  will 
have  a  fine  vacation  and  many  sunny  days  in  "Glenanaar."  ^ 

P.  A.  S. 
Again  he  writes  in  October: 

You  get  so  many  accounts  both  personally  and  by  post  of  my- 
self that  I  have  very  little  to  tell.  I  am  much  the  same  as  I  have 
been  for  some  weeks.  I  cannot  see  any  hopes  of  ultimate  recovery, 
but  I  keep  on  doing  what  I  am  told.  The  drives  you  suggest  are 
impossible,  partly  owing  to  weather,  and  partly  to  the  nature  of 
my  maladies  which  are  numerous  and  complicated.  I  cannot 
realize  that  I  am  an  incurable  patient  in  a  public  hospital.  Every- 
thing has  been  made  so  easy  for  me,  and  above  all  I  have  got  the 
supreme  grace  from  our  Lord  to  accept  it  all  as  something  that 
should  have  happened,  and  without  one  shade  of  loneliness,  or  de- 
pression, even  when  I  see  the  doctors  in  their  toggery  and  the 
trolleys  carrying  in  poor  patients  to  the  operation  room.  I  seem 
to  have  been  born  to  it.  I  suppose  the  doctors  will  patch  up  in 
some  way  this  old  wrecked  body  of  mine  and  send  me  adrift  in  the 
world  again,  but  it  will  be  some  time  I  think  before  I  can  stand  at 
the  altar.  The  nurses  are  not  tired  of  me  yet  but  continue  their 
assiduous  attention.  Sometimes  I  have  a  great  longing  for  home, 
especially  on  Sunday  evenings,  but  then  I  argue  that  I  cannot 
under  any  circumstances  have  the  care  and  attention  at  home 
that  I  have  here.  Hence  there  is  nothing  for  me  but  to  wait. 
Some  day  our  Lord  will  open  up  a  way  for  me  and  solve  all  doubt- 
ings.  But  it  does  sting  me  to  be  told:  "You  are  looking  so  well, 
you  ought  to  be  at  home."  Conscience  strikes  in  here  with  its 
blows.  I  can  only  fall  back  on  the  fact  that  I  am  a  confirmed 
invalid,  and  that  no  matter  how  long  or  short  I  live,  there  is  no 
prospect  of  ultimate  recovery.  Keep  on  praying  for  me  and  do 
not  let  the  little  children  forget  me.  I  suppose  JefF  has  sent  you 
the  experiments  he  has  been  making  with  me  on  the  camera. 

^  "Glenanaar"  was  the  name  given  to  a  little  retreat  in  the  convent  garden, 
where  the  Canon  had  built  a  rustic  bench  for  the  nuns. 


Chap.  I]  FOREBODINGS  379 

They  are  ugly  and  good.     If  he  has  not  sent  them  I  shall  send  you 

the  two  he  gave  me.  d    a    c 

r.  A.   o. 

Among  the  few  letters  he  wrote  at  this  time  in  his  beautiful 
even  handwriting  are  several  to  Mr.  Justice  Holmes,  with 
whom  he  kept  up  to  the  very  end  a  correspondence  that  is 
as  illuminating  as  it  is  characteristic. 

South  Infirmary,  Cork, 

October  6th,  1912. 

Dear  Judge  Holmes, 

My  brother  forwarded  your  last  kind  letter  of  inquiry  to  me; 
and,  altho'  not  convalescent  (for  that  would  imply  recovery,  and 
recovery  with  me  is  out  of  the  question),  I  am  able  to  satisfy  one 
desire,  that  of  letting  you  know  how  grateful  I  am  for  all  your 
solicitous  inquiring.  Two  years  ago  a  Dublin  surgeon  diagnosed 
some  internal  trouble,  and  left  no  hope  of  cure;  but  I  went  on  work- 
ing, until  a  sudden  collapse  came  in  June,  which  brought  me  to 
the  gates  of  death.  To  my  intense  disgust  and  regret,  the  doctors 
pulled  me  back  from  the  "eternal  rest"  to  face  the  world  as  a 
chronic  invalid.  I  have  hope  of  leaving  here,  and  perhaps  of 
resuming  some  parochial  work;  but  life  for  me  is  henceforth 
to  be  carried  on  on  a  broken  wing.  Fortunately,  I  have  no  pain; 
and  no  depression  of  spirits  whatsoever.  But  I  wish  I  had  been 
at  rest. 

The  words  "regret  and  disgust"  may  surprise  you;  but  I  am 
pretty  well  tired  of  this  curious  drama  of  earthly  life,  and  would 
be  glad  of  a  change  of  scene.  All  my  dark  views  of  this  poor 
diseased  humanity  of  ours  have  been  more  or  less  deepened  by  the 
scenes  I  witness  here;  for  altho'  I  am  cut  away  from  the  main 
body  of  patients,  I  cannot  help  coming  across  sometimes  some 
poor  fellow  being  rolled  in  on  a  trolley  to  the  operation  theatre; 
and  I  cannot  help  hearing  the  nurses  talking  of  gruesome  things 
which  they  have  to  witness  amongst  a  hundred  patients.  The 
bright  spot  in  all  this  mystery  of  human  suffering  is  the  faith  and 
patience  of  the  afflicted;  and  the  almost  superlative  kindness  of 
the  nurses  and  some  of  the  doctors.  I  think  women  are  nearer 
to  heaven  than  we  are.  At  least,  their  love  and  kindness  under  the 
most  revolting  conditions  seems  a  foreshadowing  of  that  Provi- 
dence that  counts  the  sparrow  on  the  housetops  and  numbers  the 
hair  on  our  heads.     And  just  as  war,  hideous  as  it  is,  develops  all 


38o         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  IV 

the  latent  good  in  our  race,  so  suffering  (and  it  seems  universal) 
seems  to  call  forth  all  that  is  divine  within  us.  Someone  has 
said  that  the  invention  of  the  lucifer-match  was  the  greatest 
achievement  of  the  19th  century.  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  match 
must  yield  its  place  of  precedence  to  the  establishment  of  trained 
and    skilled   nurses. 

I  hope  you  keep  well.  I  am  sure  you  are  working  hard  as  ever. 
Your  remarks  in  your  letter  of  July  5th  as  to  the  attitude  of  the 
working  man  towards  the  capitalist,  viewing  life  spectacularly, 
and  not  rationally,  have  often  occurred  to  me.  The  vast  body  of 
the  people  have  yet  to  learn  what  are  the  real  constituents  of 
human  happiness;  and  alas!  the  whole  tendency  of  modern  thought 
and  action  is  to  intensify  that  universal  and  ruinous  theory 
that  all  things  have  to  be  measured  by  their  money  value,  and  there 
is  no  other.  If  ever  the  masses  come  to  understand  that  money 
is  the  meanest  and  most  powerless  factor  in  creating  human 
happiness;  and  that  all  the  great  and  good  things  of  life  are  un- 
purchaseable, things  might  swing  round  to  an  equilibrium.  But 
the  brownstone  mansion  seems  such  a  contrast  to  the  tenement 
house  that  reason  has  no  place  there. 

I  shall  probably  be  retained  here  for  some  time  longer.  It 
would  be  a  great  pleasure  to  hear  from  you,  if  your  time  permits. 
Meanwhile  keep  me  in  your  memory.  Your  friendship  is  one  of 
the  sheet-anchors  of  life. 

Ever  affectionately, 

dear  Dr.  Holmes, 
P.  A.  Sheehan. 
Later  he  writes: 

South  Infirmary,  Cork, 

Oct.  16,  1912. 
Dear  Dr.  Holmes, 

I  wrote  you  a  few  days  ago;  and  the  infliction  of  this  second 
letter  is  due  partly  to  the  superabundant  leisure  I  have  at  present; 
but  principally  to  my  desire  to  tell  you  how  pleased  I  am  at  the 
compliments  that  have  lately  been  paid  you.  Dear  old  St.  Paul 
tells  us:  "Rejoice  with  them  that  rejoice;"  and  to  me,  it  is  far 
the  greater  pleasure  to  be  able  to  congratulate  my  friends  than  to 
receive  congratulations  for  myself.  That  compliment  of  the  Presi- 
dent is  worth  noting;  but,  of  the  many  others,  I  sh'd  prefer 
the  reception  you  had  at  the  College,  when  your  degree  was  con- 
ferred.    There  is  a  spontaneity  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  young 


Chap.  I]  FOREBODINGS  381 

that  makes  it  very  valuable;  and  you  have  now  not  only  aca- 
demic honors;  but  this  unique  distinction  that  you  are  the  only 
septuagenarian  that  ever  lived  who  would  say  that  the  young  lads 
of  the  present  day  are  quite  equal,  if  not  superior  to,  our  own 
contemporaries.  For  myself,  I  am  always  the  laudator  temporis 
acti;  I  think  the  world,  at  least  this  little  section,  that  makes  so 
much  noise  in  the  world,  is  much  degenerated.  I  hope  no  whispers 
of  envy  will  follow  these  acclamations;  for  there  is  a  truth  in  the 
old  saying:  Laudatur,  et  alget.  There  is  only  one  matter  which 
to  me  is  unforgivable  in  your  fine  career  —  that  you  have  not 
written  some  great  book  on  history  or  political  economy.  I  have 
always  thought  you  could  do  as  well  as  Bryce  or  Lecky;  and  I 
should  like  future  generations  to  know  you,  even  as  you  are  known 
to  your  contemporaries.  I  think  mysticism  is  not  in  your  line. 
I  remember  you  had  no  sympathy  with  Emerson;  and  not  much 
with  Carlyle.  But  you  could  direct  this  very  practical  and  erratic 
generation  on  your  own  lines.  And,  considering  the  stirring  days 
of  your  youth,  your  "Memoirs"  would  be  very  valuable  to  the 
future. 

I  am  pulling  along  like  a  bird  with  a  broken  wing;  when  Death 
looks  in  through  one  window,  the  doctors  order  him  off,  altho'  I 
should  like  to  open  the  door  to  him;  and  then  he  hovers  around 
trying  to  get  them  off  their  guard.     Some  day  he  will  succeed. 

I  have  just  had  a  letter  from  Lady  Castletown.  Lord  C.  is 
much  better.     They  leave  for  London  at  the  end  of  the  month. 

Always  affectionately  and  sincerely, 

P.  A.  Sheehan. 

During  his  illness  in  the  Infirmary  he  read  the  Letters 
of  G.  Meredith,  which  had  been  sent  him  by  a  friend.  He 
gives  his  impressions  of  the  book,  and  compares  it  to  James 
Anthony  Froude's  Reminiscences  of  Carlyle,  especially  in 
its  strongly  biased  views.  He  thinks  that  Meredith's  self- 
revelations  are  likely  to  injure  rather  than  enhance  the 
reputation  of  their  author. 

Commenting  upon  a  speech  on  "Home  Rule  Concessions 
for  Ireland,"  made  on  the  previous  day  by  WilHam  O'Brien, 
he  gives  it  as  his  opinion  "that  we  are  making  a  very  bad 
bargain  with  England;  and  that  the  English  will  have  a 
tighter  hold  of  us  than  ever.     But  before  these  things  come 


382         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  IV 
to  pass,  I  dare  say  I  shall  be  beyond  the  reach  of  any  interest 


in  them,"  ^ 


How  true  were  these  prognostications  regarding  both 
himself  and  his  mother  country  has  been  demonstrated. 
He  seemed  to  have  foreseen  the  Easter  uprising  of  1916 
and  its  apparent  failure.  Its  forerunner  of  1867  is  graphi- 
cally described  by  him  in  The  Graves  at  Kilmorna,  where  he 
prophetically,  as  it  were,  enacted  the  death  of  "the  good  and 
brave  Connolly,  with  the  steadfast  Clarke,  with  Shaun 
MacDermott  —  kindly  Irish  of  the  Irish  —  and  with  the 
upright  Eamonn  Ceannett,"  who  (with  Padraic  H.  Pearse, 
Thomas  MacDonagh  and  Joseph  Mary  Plunkett)  "have 
become  part  of  the  memory  of  Ireland." 

For  five  months  Canon  Sheehan  remained  at  the  Infir- 
mary. During  that  time  he  gfeatly  endeared  himself  to 
the  physicians,  nurses,  and  patients  who  came  in  contact 
with  him.  The  chaplain  at  the  hospital  was  in  the  habit 
of  saying  to  inquiring  friends  when  the  Canon  had  left: 
"He  was  the  brightest  and  happiest  patient  I  ever  attended." 

As  soon  as  he  could  leave  his  bed  he  was  seized  with  a 
consuming  longing  for  his  home  in  Doneraile.  The  surgeons 
were  of  opinion  that  his  removal  in  his  weak  condition  was 
fraught  with  danger,  since  in  case  of  a  relapse  he  would 
greatly  miss  the  professional  help  afforded  him  at  the  hospi- 
tal. Eventually  his  desire  prevailed,  and  on  November  25 
he  returned  home,  accompanied  by  his  brother  and  a  trained 
nurse. 

He  had  sent  word  to  his  friends  that  he  would  soon  be 
again  with  them;  but  he  wanted  no  demonstration.  "Oh, 
the  joy  that  the  news  of  his  return  brought  to  his  devoted 
flock,"  writes  a  religious  of  the  Convent  at  Doneraile. 
Many  thought  that  the  children's  prayers  had  been 
answered  and  that  he  was  entirely  cured.  He  himself 
knew  that  it  was  not  for  long;  still  he  would  be  "home." 
He  stole  in  quietly  by  a  late  train,  weary  and  tired  after  the 
journey,  threw  himself  on  his  armchair,  looked  at  his  house- 
keeper and  said :  "  I  am  home  at  last,  thank  God,  and  nothing 

1  Letter,  Nov.  5,  1912,  to  Mrs.  Sophie  O'Brien. 


Chap.  I]  FOREBODINGS  383 

shall  ever  make  me  leave  it  again,  until  I  am  in  the  coffin." 
He  made  minute  inquiries  about  the  children  and  every- 
thing that  had  happened  in  his  absence.  At  an  early 
hour  next  day  he  visited  the  convent,  and  insisted  on  seeing 
every  child  in  the  school  before  resting. 

Strangely  enough,  his  indomitable  energy  enabled  him 
again  to  take  up  his  duties.  Once  more  he  was  with  his 
flock  at  Christmas;  then,  through  the  spring  months  he 
was  there,  at  the  altar,  though  he  was  less  active  outside 
the  church.  Again,  as  of  old,  he  stirred  the  hearts  of  the 
people  in  the  month  of  May  to  love  and  imitation  of  the 
Blessed  Mother  of  Christ.  "God  only  knows  what  effort 
it  cost  him.  Many  a  time  his  parched  tongue  almost  pre- 
vented him  from  proceeding  with  the  Mass,  it  was  so  pain- 
ful for  him  to  swallow."  It  was  customary  in  his  mission 
to  communicate  the  people  after  Mass,  and  even  for  this 
service  he  gently  declined  the  help  of  his  curates,  who  were 
most  anxious  to  give  him  all  the  assistance  possible  on 
these  occasions.  He  would  scarcely  consent  to  take  a  cup 
of  tea  which  his  devoted  chapel-woman  had  ready  for  him, 
lest  it  should  cause  any  delay  or  inconvenience.  The  sole 
easement  he  allowed  his  enfeebled  body  was  to  sit  in  the 
sacristy  armchair  while  the  sacristan  removed  his  vestments; 
for  toward  the  end  he  was  unable  to  do  this  for  himself.  On 
a  few  occasions  he  swooned  off  in  the  sacristy  chair  after 
preaching  in  the  church.  A  distressing  empty  retching 
afflicted  him  almost  constantly  during  the  last  few  months. 
On  week-day  mornings  he  said  Mass  in  his  own  oratory. 

Again,  to  his  friend  in  America,  he  writes  regarding  the 
condition  of  his  health: 

DONERAILE,   Co.    CoRK, 

December  2,  1912. 

Dear  Dr.  Holmes, 

Just  this  moment,  sitting  at  "my  ain  fireside,"  your  letter  was 
put  into  my  hands.  I  have  two  or  more  correspondents  whose 
handwriting  on  the  envelope  gives  me  cold  chills  all  over;  and  a 
few,  which  I  open  with  anticipation  of  pleasure.  Amongst  these 
latter,  yours  hold  first  place;  and  I  always  open  your  letter  with 
the  exclamation:    "Not  forgotten!" 


384         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  IV 

I  made  a  dash  for  liberty  last  Monday  week.  One  of  the 
doctors  was  holding  out  against  me  to  the  last;  but  he  was  finally 
persuaded  that  hospital  life  was  not  good  from  my  standpoint; 
and  so  I  packed  up,  and  got  back  once  more  amongst  my  books  and 
papers,  and  the  kind  faces  of  friends.  All  here  have  been  ex- 
ceedingly kind  without  distinction  of  class  or  creed;  and  altho' 
I  begged  and  prayed  that  there  should  be  no  demonstration,  I 
am  afraid  I  shall  have  to  face  the  band  and  illuminations  tomorrow 
night.  Poor  people!  they  insisted  on  it;  and  it  would  be  churhsh 
to  refuse  any  little  testimony  of  their  affection. 

I  do  not  know  what  you  will  think  of  "Miriam  Lucas."  It 
carries  out  my  pet  theory  that  there  is  an  equilibrium  in  human  life 
—  some  compensation  balance  that,  in  the  end,  makes  the  poor 
somewhat  nearer  to  real  happiness  than  the  rich.  I  have  seen 
both  sides  of  the  big  question;  and  so  far  as  mere  happiness  is 
concerned,  I  think  on  the  whole  the  poor  have  the  best  of  it,  at 
least  in  this  Ireland  of  ours.  I  am  never  tired  of  quoting  a  story 
told  by  A.  K.  H.  B.  (The  Country  Parson)  in  one  of  his  books  — • 
the  Grampian  shepherd,  coming  home  after  a  day's  honest  work, 
and  declaring,  after  he  had  changed  his  boots,  and  swallowed 
a  wholesome  supper,  and  taken  up  Chambers'  Journal: 

"I  do  not  envy  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch;"  and,  as  a  contrast, 
the  monomaniac  in  his  ducal  mansion  above  the  Thames,  shouting 
impatiently: 

"Oh,  that  river,  that  river,  always  rolling  and  rolling,  and  never 
rolling   away!" 

I  see  that  the  A'^.  Tork  Herald  and  another  American  paper 
hint  that  in  the  3d  book  of  "M.  Lucas"  I  write  "in  complete 
ignorance  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  N.  York."  I  should  like  to 
know  where  the  picture  fails.  It  is  not  flattering,  but  I  wrote 
after  making  careful  inquiries  amongst  friends  who  have  visited 
here  from  time  to  time.  But  I  perceive  that  nations  have  nerves 
as  well  as  individuals;  and  altho'  I  thought  we  Irish  had  a  double 
dose  of  them,  I  perceive  that  the  malady  is  universal.  .  .  , 

If  too  early  to  wish  you  a  happy  Xtmas,  it  is  never  premature  to 
wish  you  every  blessing,  temporal  and  spiritual. 

Always  affectionately, 
P.  A.  Sheehan. 


Chap.  I]  FOREBODINGS  385 

To  Lady  Gilbert  he  writes  a  few  months  before  his  death: 

DoNERAiLE  April   3,  1913. 

I  have  to  thank  you  very  much  for  your  most  kind  letter  of 
March    31st. 

I  am  much  better  in  health  since  I  came  home  and  found  myself 
able  to  take  part  in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  parish.  It  is  a 
wholesome  distraction  and  acts  as  a  kind  of  tonic,  keeping  the  mind 
from  dwelling  too  much  on  physical  disabilities.  But  I  shall  always 
be  an  invalid,  just  struggling  along,  and  consoling  myself  with  the 
reflection  that  it  is  God's  holy  will,  and  the  cross  might  have  been 
much  heavier  than  it  is. 

I  am  quite  sure  you  have  no  need  to  envy  me,  or  any  Catholic 
writer  of  note  in  our  generation,  for  I  know  no  author  who  has 
given  to  the  reading  public  such  a  splendid  output  of  genuine 
Hterature  as  yourself. 

He  quotes  "our  good  Father  Russell"  as  commenting 
on  the  strange  inconsistency  of  editors  of  Catholic  maga- 
zines, who  on  the  one  hand  complain  of  the  lack  of  superior 
Catholic  literature,  and  then  refuse  to  do  it  justice,  by 
generous  acknowledgment,  when  it  appears.  He  consoles 
himself  with  an  ultimate  adjustment  of  things  under  the 
providence  of  God,  and  says: 

One  who  has  the  vocation  of  the  pen  must  keep  right  on,  never 
minding,  and  only  striving  to  get  in  a  great  life's  work  before  the 
night  falls. 

I  am  not  now  writing.  I  am  too  weak  to  attempt  anything 
new.  But  I  have  a  novel  completed  for  the  press;  though  I  think 
it  advisable  to  defer  its  publication  until  the  autumn  of  the  year. 
But  I  scribble  away  a  little  now  and  again,  just  for  amusement 
and  to  while  away  a  lonely  hour.  This  habit  of  writing  is  a 
wonderful  anodyne.  Apart  from  the  question  of  success  or  fail- 
ure, it  is  itself  a  reward  for  the  little  labour  involved. 

During  all  this  time,  mindful  of  the  fact  that  he  was  still 
pastor  of  his  people,  he  did  not  permit  himself  to  neglect  the 
ordinary  duties  of  his  office,  "I  shall  keep  at  my  work  as 
long  as  I  am  able  to  do  something,"  he  would  say.  He  heard 
confessions  and  said  the  parochial  Mass  until  shortly  before 
his  death.     Toward  the  end  of  the  summer  he  began  to 


386         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  IV 

say  Mass  in  private,  though  he  kept  up  until  the  15th  of 
August  the  habit  of  hearing  confessions.  That  day  he  said 
his  last  Mass,  after  which  he  collapsed  completely.  The 
grief  of  the  people,  when  they  missed  him  from  the  altar, 
was  extreme,  for  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  addressing  a  few 
words  to  them  always.  Some  gossipers,  who  could  not 
have  known  the  Canon,  had  circulated  the  rumor  that  he 
was  losing  his  mind. 

When  the  fast-declining  priest  heard  of  it,  he  humorously 
discussed  the  report.  The  empty  fabrication  only  amused 
him,  though  it  distressed  his  friends.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  retained  his  alert  sense  of  things  and  all  his  faculties  to 
the  very  last,  and  those  who  daily  attended  him,  his  curates, 
his  physician,  and  others,  not  only  refute  this  rumor,  but 
they  dwell  on  his  clearness  of  mind  and  his  thoughtfulness 
down  to  the  close  of  his  life.  His  keen  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  his  parishioners  caused  him  to  inquire  and  make  pro- 
visions for  them  long  after  he  had  ceased  to  visit  their 
houses  or  minister  to  them  in  the  church. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  he  had  taken  occasion  to 
thank  them  for  their  kindness  to  him  all  through  the  past 
years.  He  told  them  how  the  Bishop  had  asked  him,  some 
time  before,  to  accept  another  responsible  charge,  and  that 
he  felt  for  a  time  that  it  would  be  his  duty  to  do  so.  But 
when  he  thought  of  the  little  children,  of  the  welcome  he 
always  received  from  his  poor  at  the  mission  stations,  of 
his  visits  to  the  homes  of  his  people  in  the  country,  his  choir 
and  his  Sunday  catechism,  aye,  every  stone  of  the  little 
church  and  of  the  town  of  Doneraile,  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  leave  them.  He  pointed  to  the  spot  close  by  the 
church  door  where  he  wished  to  be  buried  among  them, 
hoping  that  the  little  children  and  the  poor  would  pray  at 
the  grave  as  they  would  pass  by  on  their  way  to  the  Church. 
He  then  asked  them  to  make  allowance  for  any  want  on 
his  part  in  his  parochial  work.  "It  is  not  want  of  will 
but  want  of  strength  that  makes  me  fail  in  doing  what 
I  would  for  you,  my  dearest  people."  There  was  a  wave  of 
sobs  among  the  congregation,  the  young  and  the  old,  and  he 


Chap.  I]  FOREBODINGS  387 

himself  broke  down.  That  was  on  New  Year's  Day,  when 
he  was  already  ailing  much. 

Among  the  friends  who  were  to  cheer  him  in  his  last  illness 
was  Mr.  Justice  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  who  writes: 

"During  the  last  summer  of  his  life  I  was  at  Doneraile  and  called 
every  day  after  luncheon,  that  time  being  best  for  him.  He  knew, 
and  I  feared,  he  was  dying,  though  I  did  not  admit  it.  One  day 
he  bid  me  go  to  his  library  and  select  a  book.  On  his  assurance 
I  took  Suarez  —  De  Legibus,  which  I  had  heard  him  praise,  and  it 
bears  his  inscription  "August  5th  1913  "  .  .  .  I  wish  that  I  could 
have  offered  him  something  besides  affection  and  reverence  for 
his  lovely  spirit." 

The  end  was  coming  fast. 


II 

THE    END 

WITH  the  autumn  came  the  final  crisis.  By  gentle 
manliness  he  had  managed  to  keep  to  himself  the 
secret  of  much  of  his  suffering,  because  he  would 
not  distress  the  children  who  had  sought  to  pray  him  back 
to  health;  but  God's  wisdom  had  ordained  otherwise.  Now 
that  he  was  to  bid  them  a  last  farewell,  all  he  wanted  was 
their  prayers  for  a  happy  death.  "Autumn  had  come 
and  almost  gone,  the  leaves  had  fallen  from  the  trees,  the 
birds  were  seeking  shelter  beneath  the  laurels,"  so  he  too 
would  seek  shelter  beneath  mother  earth  and  within  the 
shade  of  his  little  church,  to  await  the  awakening  of  a  new 
spring  in  Paradise. 

He  brought  to  bear  the  same  strong  zeal  and  earnestness 
that  had  characterized  all  his  previous  doings  upon  the  last 
important  act  of  his  earthly  life  —  he  meant  to  die  well. 
After  he  had  seen  his  people  for  the  last  time  in  the  church 
he  took  to  his  bed.  Thenceforth  his  days  were  spent  in 
almost  unbroken  silence  and  prayer.  He  had  no  apparent 
dread  of  death;  and  when  it  definitely  knocked  to  summon 
him,  he  met  it  with  a  quiet  alacrity  that  betokened  the  reali- 
zation of  a  true  home  going. 

I  followed  a  morning  star 
And  it  led  to  the  gate  of  light. 
With  a  cry  of  "Hail  and  rejoice!" 
And  farewell  to  the  things  that  are, 
And  hail  to  eternal  peace, 
And  rejoice  that  the  day  is  done, 
For  the  night  brings  but  release 
And  threatens  no  waking  sun. 

A  few  intimate  friends  were  allowed  at  intervals  to  see 
him,  and  their  memories,  to  the  very  last,  are  those  of  a 


7  —  - 


; 


7 


HEADSTONE    MARKING    THE    GRAVE    OF    CANON 

SHEEHAN    AT   THE    ENTRANCE    TO    THE    PARISH 

CHURCH,    DONERAILE 


Chap.  II]  THE    END  389 

tranquil  joy,  with  which,  in  full  possession  of  all  his  faculties, 
he  recognized  their  affectionate  regard,  grateful  for  each 
least  kindness. 

The  priests  who  had  labored  with  him  for  years  assisted 
him  in  every  way  possible  to  ease  his  departure.  He  received 
the  last  Sacraments  with  that  humble  and  devout  expression 
of  his  faith  in  the  Real  Presence  which  had  been  his  strength 
and  the  center  of  his  priestly  ministry  for  well  nigh  forty 
years.  With  his  rosary  in  his  hands,  he  calmly  expired  about 
six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  October  fifth,  191 3,  the  Feast 
of  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary.  The  people  had  gathered 
throughout  the  day  in  the  church  to  recite  the  prayers  for 
the  dying.  The  children  in  scattered  groups,  kneeling 
before  the  altar  and  about  the  shrine  of  Our  Lady,  had  been 
pouring  forth  their  invocations:  "Holy  Mary,  Mother  of 
God,  pray  for  us  now  and  —  at  the  hour  of  our  death," 
when  the  bells  from  the  church  tower  tolled  their  "Amen" 
to  indicate  that  the  beloved  pastor  of  Doneraile  had  gone 
to  his  eternal  rest. 

AFTERMATH 

The  life  of  the  simple  reserved  pastor  of  the  modest 
village  of  Doneraile  as  here  told,  mostly  in  his  own  language, 
conveys  to  the  thoughtful  reader  various  lessons  of  a  con- 
scientious search  after  high  ideals,  of  docility  to  noble  im- 
pulse, and  of  unbroken  industry.  What  he  wrought,  often 
in  exquisite  workmanship,  through  his  pen,  is  sure  to  reach 
a  large  audience  for  generations  to  come. 

But  if  Canon  Sheehan  was  a  writer,  a  poet,  and  a  patriot, 
whose  eloquence  in  his  books  or  on  the  platform  captivated 
those  who  read  or  heard  his  words,  he  was  first  and  fore- 
most the  pastor  of  his  flock,  intent  on  directing  their  thoughts 
and  efforts  toward  eternal  issues.  These  issues  he  had 
sought  to  realize  clearly  for  himself;  and  when  that  was 
done  he  had  no  other  aim  but  to  lead  the  way  for  others. 
The  joy  of  intellect,  the  subtle  pleasure  that  comes  with  the 
response  of  a  wide  fame  among  the  good,  from  the  utter- 
ance of  truth,   and  through  the  charm  and  attraction  of 


390         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  IV 

letters,  was  his  for  a  brief  span  of  years.  Then  came  the 
many  things,  as  they  always  come  in  the  life  of  a  priest 
who  labors  successfully,  that  reminded  him  of  the  futility 
of  human  applause: 

Vox  popularis 
Sonitus  maris. 

From  that  time  forward  he  listened  for  another  voice, 
clearer  if  not  louder,  more  sweetly  insistent  when  once  the 
soul  has  caught  its  delightful  melody,  and  more  sustained 
with  latent  promise;  a  sacred  voice  whose  appeal  lifts  the 
heart,  and  differs  from  the  call  of  human  love,  as  the  organ 
notes  on  solemn  festivals  differ  from  the  whisperings  of  the 
wind  through  the  brush  of  the  woodland.  He  had  caught 
the  vision  of  the  form  of  the  fair  Christ  whom  Catholic 
theology  had  outlined  and  interpreted  for  him  in  his  reflec- 
tions and  meditations  at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  He  had  vowed 
to  follow  this  Master,  with  childlike  readiness  and  absolute 
trust;  and  the  fascination  of  the  path,  the  Via  Cruets, 
absorbed  him  more  and  more  as  he  grew  older  and  came 
nearer  to  the  gate  of  death. 

Someone  has  said: 

The  Door  of  Death  is  made  of  gold 
That  mortal  eyes  cannot  behold. 
But  when  the  chastened  eyes  are  closed, 
And  cold  and  pale  the  limbs  reposed. 
The  soul  awakes;   and  wond'ring  sees 
In  her  own  hand  the  golden  keys. 

Canon  Sheehan  spent  his  life  in  fashioning  the  golden 
keys  that  would  open  to  him  the  gate  of  death.  How  he 
did  it  is  probably  the  most  important  lesson  to  be  learned 
from  his  career.  If  as  a  priest  he  had  spent  his  life  in  the 
task  of  forming  others  upon  the  Christian  model,  he  became 
first  of  all  through  self-discipline  the  "forma  facta  gregis," 
the  pattern  for  the  flock.  He  had  striven  to  be  humble;  and 
for  that  reason  he  was  able  to  achieve  what  men  of  perhaps 
greater  talent  leave  unaccomplished.  "No  real  work  is 
done  in  the  world,"   he  writes,   "except   by   humble   and 


Chap.  II]  THE    END  391 

lowly  men."  In  that  sentence  we  have  from  Canon  Sheehan 
himself  an  unconscious  statement  of  the  principles  that 
guided  him  and  the  secret  of  the  success  which  he  undoubt- 
edly attained.  Ere  he  had  reached  middle  hfe  he  had  become 
conscious  of  what  he  sympathetically  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  the  old  priest  in  My  New  Curate. 

Alas!  how  weak  and  pitiful  I  am,  how  this  unsubdued  nature  of 
mine  craves  for  things  beyond  Thee!  I  know  there  is  no  truth 
but  in  Thee  —  no  sincerity,  no  constancy.  .  .  .  Yet  this  lower 
being  within  my  being  forever  stretches  out  its  longings  to  sensible 
things  that  deceive,  and  will  not  rest  in  Thee,  who  art  all  Truth, 
But  I  must  be  brought  back  to  Thee  through  the  sharp  pangs  of 
trials  and  tears.  Spare  me  not,  O  Master!  only  do  not  punish  me 
with  the  deprivation  of  Thy  Love. 

And  when  he  felt  that  his  day  on  earth  was  done  he 
prayed  with  the  old  priest,  Dr.  Gray: 

Take  my  frail  life,  frail  as  the  moth  that  wings 

Its  rapid  life  in  one  melodious  breath, 
And  fashion  it  anew  with  all  those  things 

Cast  in  the  brazen  crucible  of  death. 

Lo,  as  my  pulses  flag,  my  senses  die, 
I  feel  Thee  coming  near  and  ever  near. 

I  hear  Thee  in  my  last  unuttered  sigh. 
My  spirit  lingers;   but  my  God  is  here. 

Hence  it  was  in  the  spirit  of  an  apostle  who  answers 
the  call  of  his  Master  that  he  went  to  his  grave.  That 
is  the  thought  he  embodied  in  the  simple  inscription  which 
he  had  written  for  his  headstone  —  a  plain  Celtic  cross: 

CANON     SHEEHAN,     P.P.    D.D. 

BORN    MARCH     IJ,     1852 

DIED    ON    ROSARY    SUNDAY,     OCTOBER    5,     I913 

R.     I.     P. 

"where    DWELLEST    THOU,    RABBI?" 

AND    JESUS     SAID 

"come    AND     SEE." 


392         CANON  SHEEHAN  OF  DONERAILE      [Part  IV 

"I  came  to  Doneraile,"  writes  John  J.  Horgan,  author  of 
Great  Catholic  Laymen,  "on  the  day  of  his  funeral.  All  the 
countryside  had  come  to  do  him  homage.  A  nation  mourned 
by  his  grave.  Lords  and  Members  of  Parliament,  farmers 
and  laborers,  professional  men  and  artisans,  all  were  as 
one  in  their  sorrow  and  in  their  loss.  But  it  was  in  the 
little  house  by  the  river  that  one  missed  him  most.  The 
gentle  presence,  the  quiet  voice,  the  kindly  smile,  all  gone 
.  .  .  The  procession  passed  through  the  little  village  street, 
through  the  convent  grounds  where  he  so  often  went  to 
encourage  and  help  the  good  nuns  in  their  work;  and 
finally  they  laid  him  to  rest  beside  his  church." 

His  spirit  Hngers  in  the  village,  and  the  visitor  as  he 
approaches  the  gate  of  the  church  may  see,  almost  at  any 
hour  of  the  day,  the  kneeling  figures  of  little  children  and 
of  women  and  men,  who  bend  their  heads  in  prayer  over  the 
stone  that  covers  the  remains  of  their  beloved  pastor  of 
old.  The  praise  of  his  memory  is  everywhere,  and  is 
perpetuated  for  those  who  worship  within,  by  the  memorial 
windows  in  the  church,  and  for  the  stranger  outside  by  the 
marble  figure  on  the  green  fronting  the  street.  It  is  a  testi- 
mony of  affectionate  reverence  not  only  from  those  to  whom 
the  love  of  their  pastor  appeals  in  death,  but  from  the 
entire  population,  and  from  admirers  across  the  Atlantic  and 
the  Pacific,  among  whom  he  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem 
for  his  intellectual  gifts  and  his  big-hearted  charity,  for  his 
public-spirited  forethought  in  behalf  of  his  fellows,  and  the 
humble  gentlemanly  dignity  that  shone  forth  from  his 
conduct. 

The  common  tribute  to  Canon  Sheehan's  worth  has  been 
summed  up  by  his  friend  William  O'Brien,  who  writes  in 
his  epitaph:  "one  of  the  truest  men  of  genius  who  have 
illustrated  the  Irish  name,  and  one  of  the  truest  saints  who 
ever  sanctified  the  Irish  soil." 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abercorn,  Duke  of,  315 
Academy,  criticism  in  The,  146 
Age,  "judged  by"  in  Ireland,  74 
Agrarian  conflicts,  317 
Agricultural  revival  in  Ireland,  211,  293 
Aidan,  Father,  in  "Geoffrey  Austin,"  3 
Allemands,  Les,  Pere  Didon,  91 
"Ama  nesciri  et  pro  nihilo  reputari," 

source  of  quotation,  270 
America  and  Irish  Industry,  240-241 
America,  discovers  C.  S.,  3-5,  133 
America,  emigration  to,  111-113,  202, 

204,  241,  294,  3SS-3S9 
America,  "  Free  Thought  in  —  "  article 

in  I.E.R.,  90 
America,  Lines  to  an  Irish  lady  in,  112 
America,  proposal  to  visit,  181,  182 
America,  Socialism  in,  189,  190 
American  Bait,  174 
American  Cath.  Quarterly  Review,  The, 

147,  186,  187 
American  Ecclesiastical  Review,  34,  122, 

124,  133,  IS7,  163,  169,  178,  181, 

191,  244 
American  Visitors,  141,  186,  276,  369- 

372 
Anonymity  of  C.  S.,  3,  138,  181 
Ardant,    Abbe    Georges,     edits     Mon 

Nouveau  Vicaire,  267 
Ardmore,  177 
Arnold,  Matthew,  criticized  in  Dublin 

Review,  94 
Art,  Essay  on  Christian,  in  I.E.R.,  90 
Ashbourne  Act,  227 
,  Astronomy,  favorite  study  of  C.  S.,  198, 

199 
"At  Home,"  C.  S.,  239-244 
Aubrey  de  Vere,  95;   letter  to  Matthew 

Russell,  S.  J.,  loi 
Augustine,     St.,     attraction     for,     96; 

studies  of,  98;   discussion  of  recent 

literature  on,  94 


Augustine,  Sister  Mary  dies  at  Mallow 
Convent,  21 

Austin,  Mother  Mary,  of  Alabama,  115 

Australia,  call  to  the  bishopric  of 
Lismore,  N.S.W.,  252-255 

Autobiographical  Memoir,  250;  de- 
stroyed, 251 

Ave  Maria,  serial  on  Magnificat  in  The, 

174 
Awbeg  River,  Spenser's  "Mulla  mine," 
108 

Ball,  Sir  Charles,  pronounces  death 
warrant  of  C.  S.,  375 

Ballyvadlea,  Bridget  Cleary,  reputed 
"witch"  at,  134 

Baptism  of  P.  S.,  9 

Barry,  Dr.  William,  comments  and 
correspondence,  129,  146,  149,  150, 
158,  159,  171-172 

Barry,  Philip  Harold,  J. P.,  191 

Barrymore,  Lord,  315 

Barrys,  the  Celto-Catholic,  at  Kil- 
colman  Castle,  286 

Bazin,  Rene,  "La  terre  qui  meurt" 
compared  with  "Lisheen"  in  Dub- 
lin Review,  205 

Beauregard,  Comtesse  de,  correspond- 
ence, 268-269 

Bellamy,  Father,  in  "Geoffrey  Austin,"  3 

Belloc,  Hilaire,  257 

Benson,  Father,  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  214 

Benziger  Brothers,  184 

Biographical  sketch  of  C.  S.  in  Dolphin, 
178;  sources  of  VII-IX 

Bishopric  of  Lismore,  N.  S.  W.,  offered 
to  C.  S.,  252-255 

Blake,  Edmund  (steeple  chase),  281 

Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray,  story  of,  244-250 

Bombay,  Indo-European  Correspondence, 
critique  in,  150 

Boston  Pilot,  145,  146,  148 


395 


396 


INDEX 


Bourke,  Hon.  Judge  Matthew,  340 
Brady,  Bishop  (Boston),  140 
Brereton,  Cloudesley,  report  on    Irish 

education,  325 
"Bridge  House"  at  Doneraile,  280 
Bruneau,    Joseph,    S.S.,    translator    of 

C.  S.,  162 
Browne,  Father  Henry,  S.  J.,  147,  193 
Browne,  Dr.  Robert,  Bishop  of  Cloyne, 

at  St.  Colman's,  105;   consecrated, 

105;  on  visitation,  141 
Browne,  Rev.  William,  VHI 
Browning,  22 

Burns  and  Gates,  123,  145,  148 
Burton,  Rev.  John,  IX;   fellow  student 

at  Fermoy,  22;   on  return  of  C.  S. 

at  Dublin,  75 
Butt,  Isaac's  estimate  of  Irish  states- 
men, 221 
Buttevant,    church    steeple    at,    origin 

of  "steeplechase,"  281 
Bybloxe  towne  (Doneraile),  276 

Caherna  "  Station,"  287 

Cambridge  University,  Hulsean  lectures 

at,  97 
Canon,  P.  S.  made,  of  Cloyne  Chapter, 

202 
Canticle    of   Magnificat    in    The    Ave 

Maria,  174 
Cappa  magna,  trouble  with  the,  61 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  influence  of,  on  P.  S., 

30;   gospel  of  work,  64;   change  of 

estimate  regarding,  31;    references 

to,  325-328 

Carr,  Thomas,  archbishop  of  Mel- 
bourne, 344 

Carroll,  Mother  Austin,  115 

Carroll,  Dr.  John,  253 

Castletown,  Lord,  VIII-IX,  185,  254, 
310;  estimate  of  C.  S.,  311,  312; 
completes  Royal  University  pro- 
gram in  collaboration  with  C.  S., 

342,  343 

Castletown,  Lady,  VIII,  309,  311; 
builds  town  hall  to  aid  C.  S.'s 
efforts  in  behalf  of  the  young,  322 

Catechetical  work  at  Queenstown,  87 

Catholic  Mind,  VIII 


Catholic  Times,  150 

Catholic  World,  VIII,  critique  of  "  Geof- 
frey Austin,"  117,  118;   publishes 

"Lisheen"  in  serial,  205 
Catholics  and   Protestants  in  Ireland, 

212;   at  Mallow,  21 
Chaplain,  C.  S.,  appointed,  to  Sisters 

of  Mercy,  99 
Charity,  methods  of  C.  S.,  295,  297-301 
Children,   fondness  of  C.   S.   for,   291, 

376;   interest  in  school,  289,  291, 

321 
Christian  Brothers,  schools  of  the,  289, 

293 »  320,  367 
Christmas  dinners  for  the  poor,  298 
Church  services  at  Doneraile,  346-350 
"Cithara  Mea"  (poems),  170 
Civic    improvements    inaugurated    by 

C.  S.,  308-309 
Class  pieces  at  Maynooth,  34 
Cleary,    Bridget,    reputed    "witch"   at 

Ballyvadlea,  134 
Clergy,  the,  wedded  to  old  methods,  iii; 

educational   reforms   through   the, 

127 
Clerical    education,    123-124;    in    our 

Seminaries,  127-128 
Clerical  studies,  124 
Clerical  types,  3,  132 
Clonmel,  trial  at,  134 
Cloyne  men  "creme  de  la  creme"  at 

Maynooth,  34 
Colman's,  inscription  at  St.,  16;    P.  S. 

enters  St.,  17-22 
Coneela's  well,  282 
Conspiracy  trial  of  Doneraile,  282 
Contrasts,  Irish  and  English,  69,  82 
Controversies,  67 

Convents,  hidden  talent  in,  367-368 
Converts,  Dr.  Robert  Hawker,  52;    at 

Exeter,  66 
Convicts  at  Dartmoor  Prison,  69 
Conway,  Katharine,  145,  146,  148 
Copyright  questions,  161,  163,  174,  176 
Cork,   ordination    at,    46;     records    of 

conspiracy  trial  examined  at,  191; 

illness  at  hospital,  377-379 
Cork  Free  Press,  218,  235 
Cotter,  John,  278 


INDEX 


397 


Criminality  of  Ireland,  charge  of, 
repudiated,  211 

Criticism,  139,  165,  186,  187,  272; 
literary  value  of,  article  in  E.  R., 
128;  estimate  of,  129,  183 

Criticisms,  Essays  and,  265 

Croke,  Dr.  Thomas  W.,  280,  320 

Crolly,  Dr.  George,  at  Maynooth,  24,  27 

CroUy,  William  (note),  27 

Crowley,  Peter  O'Neill,  death  and  burial 
of,  19 

Culture,  meaning  of,  41;  in  the  Semi- 
nary, 42 

Curates,  C.  S.'s  care  of  his,  360-362 

"Curse  of  Doneraille,"  281 

"Daddy  Dan,"  106-107,  160,  202,  239 

Daly,  Tighe,  P.P.  of  Doneraile,  277, 
283 

Dante,  study  of,  32,  177;  C.  S.  sends 
volume  to  Justice  Holmes,  237 

Darlington,  Jos.,  S.J.,  University  Col- 
lege, correspondence,  342 

Dartmoor,  convict  prison,  experience 
at,  69 

Davis,  Thomas,  14,  21,  222 

Davitt,  Michael,  at  Dartmoor  prison,  70 

Dedication  of  "Geoffrey  Austin"  to 
the  Youth  of  Ireland,  114 

Delany,  Bishop  William,  ordains  P.  S., 
46 

Democracy  of  Ireland,  226 

Devotions    in   parish   church,   346-350 

Dickens,  100,  151 

Didon,  Pere,  Les  Allemands,  91;  im- 
pressions of  Germany,  92-93 

Discovery  of  Father  Sheehan,  5,  133 

Disraeli,  30 

Divine  tabernacle,  honor  of,  68 

Doctor,  C.  S.,  receives  honorary  degree 
of,  202 

Dolphin,  The,  articles  in,  VII,  178,  183, 
191 

Domestic  Annals  of  Maynooth,  25 

Doneraile  (Downeraile),  appointed  to, 
105;  idyllic  village,  107-108,  281; 
history  of,  276-288;  civic  improve- 
ments, 308;  conspiracy  of,  179, 
191;     parish    work    in,    345-3555 


curse  of,  281;    assessed  by  Pope 

Nicholas  (1291),  286 
"Doneraile  Court,"  185,  280 
Drama  of  modern  life  (Lost  Angel  in  a 

ruined  Paradise),  237-238 
Dramatization  of  "Daddy  Dan,"   182 
Droste  Huelshoff,  Baron  Clement  von, 

appraisal  of  C.  S.,  270 
Druidical  Rath,  134 
Dublin,  meeting  at  Fitzgerald's  hotel,  75 
Dublin  Review,  articles  in,  on  Augus- 

tinian  literature,  94,  96,   174;   cri- 
tique, 205,  248 
Dudley,  Lord,  317 
Duggan,  Michael,  critique,  165 
Dumas  and  Georges  Sand  at  French 

bookstalls,  57 
Dunboyne  establishment,  29 
Dupanloup,  Mgr.  at  Paris,  58 

Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  at  Exeter, 

59 
Ecclesiastical  Colleges,  impart  learning 

but  not  culture,  41 
Edinburgh  Review,  187 
Education,  idea  of  popular,   322-323; 

University  in  Ireland  and  Germany, 

90,91 
Egan,  Maurice  Francis,  146;    critique, 

187,  234 
Emerson's  philosophy,  article  in  I.  E.  R. 

on,  90;    Swinburne's  estimate  of, 

quoted,  254 
Emigration,    effects    of,    on    the    Irish 

Church,  90;   evils  of,  111-112,  354 
Emigrant,  Lines  to   an   Irish   lady  in 

America,  112 
"Emigrant's  Return,  The,"  verses  and 

music  by  C.  S.,  355-^359 
Emmet,  21 

England,  first  mission  in,  47;    advan- 
tages of  training  in,  62;    yearning 

for,  78 
English    mechanism,    61;     genius    for 

organization,  67 
Englishmen,  C.  S.'s  opinion  of,  60,  61, 

67 
Epitaph,   of  Luke   Delmege,    168;    of 

C.  S.  by  himself,  391 


398 


INDEX 


Escutcheon  of  the  Sheehans,  9 

Essays  and  Criticisms,  265 

Everhard,  Dr.,  in  "The  Spoiled  Priest" 

drawn  from  life,  VI 
Exeter,  appointed  to,  53;  life  at  54-55, 

59,  68,  73;  remembered  at,  74 

Faculty  of  Maynooth  College,  23, 

24,  42 
Faerie  Queen,  Spenser's,  108 
Father  Dan,  141 
Father   Mack    on    Retreat,    article   in 

A.  E.  R.,  181 
Father  Pat  among  the  Children,  240, 

376 
Fawcett  Act  abolishing  religious  tests 

at  National  University,   338 
"Feis,"  local,  310 

Fenian  Brotherhood,   12,   13,   19;    Up- 
rising (in  '67),  20 
Fermoy,  convent  at,  15;    St.  Colman's 

at,  16-17 
"Final    Law,    The,"  original    title  of 

"  Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray,"  244 
Finlay,    Thomas,  S.J.,    correspondence 

about  "My  New  Curate,"  137,  166 
Fire,  Description  of,  in  Doneraile,  296, 

First  Book,  C.  S.'s  ("Geoffrey  Austin"), 

no 
First  Mass,  at  Mallow  convent,  47 
First  Sermon,  50 
Fish  supply  in  Ireland,  240 
Fitzpatrick's  Hotel  (Dublin),  encounter 

at,  75.  77 
Flood,  Dr.  Grattan,  VIII 
Foreign  comment  on  C.  S.'s  books,  in 

Germany,  267;   France  268;   Italy, 

269 
Fortnightly  Review,  article  in,  on  the  posi- 
tion of  Ireland  in  politics,  314-317 
France,  reason  for  lack  of  popularity 

of  C.  S.'s  books  in,  269 
Free  Press  (Cork),  129,  218,  235,  318 
Freeman's  Journal  147,  205 
Free  Nationality  for  Ireland,  principles 

of — ,  222,  224 
Free  Thought  in  America,   article  in 

/.  E.  R.,  90 


Freedom  of  the  Press,  228 
Freemasons  and  Jews  in  Ireland,  140 
French  professors  at  Maynooth,  27 
French  Revolution,  theme  of  "Queen's 

Fillet,"  256 
French  school  system,  warning  against 

adoption  of,  89 
French  translations  of  C.   S.'s   books, 

162,  267 
French  writers,  charm  of,  44 
French,  poetry  compared  with  German, 

93 
French,     practising     on     journey     to 
Lourdes,  56 

Gaelic    League,  C.   S.'s   interest   in, 

310 
Galbally,  Edward  J.,  IX 
Galtee  mountains,  19 
Gallic   and    German   Muse,    article   in 

/.  E.  R.,  93 
Gambetta,  article  on,  in  /.  E.  R.,  90 
Garden    of  C.   S.'s   rectory   described, 

179 
Gayfield   House    (Mayfield   College   in 

"Geoffrey  Austin"),  17 
Gelasius  di  Cilia  —  Augustinian  Studies, 

97 
Gentry,  C.  S.  and  the  Irish,  311 
"  Geoffrey  Austin,"  genesis  of,  lOO,  1 10, 

115-118;     purpose    and    scope   of, 

I,  3»  5.  151;    characters  in,  3,  17; 

critique  of,  4,  116,  122;  translated, 

133 

German,  C.  S.'s  appreciation  of  litera- 
ture, 31,  199;  universities  (article  in 
/.  E.  R.)  90,  117;  translation,  133, 
267;  militarism,  219 

Germans,  Renan's  estimate  of,  94 

Germany,  visit  to,  195,  impressions  of — , 
200-202,  favorable  reception  of 
C.  S.'s  books  in,  117,  269 

Gilbert,  Lady  —  (Rosa  Mulholland), 
IX,  193,  238,  385 

Gill  and  Son  interviewed  about  C.  S.,  4, 
122 

"Glenanaar"  (Glenanair),  story  from 
real  life,  VI,  179,  191,  202;  portrait 
of  O'Connell  in,   192;  critique  of, 


INDEX 


399 


192-193,  202;  retreat  in  convent 
garden,  378 

GlengarifF,  C.  S.  ordered  to,  99 

"Gospel  of  work"  Carlyle's,  adopted 
by  C.  S.,  64 

Graham,  Canon,  at  Plymouth,  50 

Gral,  267 

"Graves  at  Kilmorna,"  true  story  of 
Irish  Uprising  (in  '6j),  258,  259- 
262;  published  after  author's  death, 
258;  critical  estimates  of,  261,  318 

"Gray,  The  Blindness  of  Dr.,"  scope 
and  purpose  of  the  story,  244-250; 
Canon  Murphy  of  Cloyne  the 
original  of  Dr.  — ,  248 

Gwynne's,  Stephen,  "To-day  and  To- 
morrow in  Ireland,"  187 

Halpin,  James  ("  Graves  at  Kilmorna") 
Hannah,  elder  sister  of  P.  S.,  9 
Harris,  Joel  Chandler  (Uncle  Remus), 

appreciation  of  C.  S.'s  novels,  165, 

188 
Hawker,  Dr.  Robert,  convert,  52 
Healy,  archbishop  of  Tuam,  historian 

of  Maynooth,  25 
Henry,  Dr.  Hugh  T.,  183 
Heuser,    H.    J.,    correspondence    with 

C.  S.,  122,  125,  132,  158,  161,  162, 

169,  178,  182 
Hobson,  George,  Canon  at  Exeter,  53, 

59 
Hogan,     abbe     John     (Boston),     124, 

appreciation  by,  139,  140 
Hogan,  Dr.  John  (Maynooth),  147 
Holiday  in  Germany,  C.  S.'s,  202 
Holmes,   Oliver   Wendell,   Justice    Su- 
preme   Court    U.    S.,    IX,    visits 
Doneraile,      185,     correspondence, 
186,  188,  208,  209,  214,  236,  253, 
269,  379-384,  387 
Holy  week  services  in  Doneraile  church, 

346-349 
Home    rule   struggle  in   Ireland,    no, 

220 
Homiletic  Review  of  N.  Y.  prints  C.  S.'s 

sermons,  184,  195 
Horgan,  Father  John  J.,  11 
Horgan,  Mr.  John  J.,  392 


Hospital,  experiences  at  Naval,  52; 
illness  at  South  Cork,  377 

"Hound  of  Heaven,"  Thompson's, 
comparison  of  "  Canticle  Magnifi- 
cat" with,   174 

Hudson,  Father  {Ave  Maria),  148 

Hulsean  lectures  on  St.  Augustine  at 
Cambridge,  97 

Humanities,  study  of — ,  at  Maynooth, 

25 

Hurling  and  cricket  at  Mallow,  13 
Huysman's  En  Route,  216 
Hyde,  Douglas,  310 
Hygiene,    elementary    teaching   of,    in 
schools,  337 

Ideals,  pastoral,  106-107;    Irish,  177 

Idiota  (Luke  Delmege),  170 

Illiteracy  in  Ireland,  census  of,  un- 
reliable, 325 

Illness  of  P.  S.  at  Maynooth,  34-35; 
at  hospital  in  Cork,  377-383;  last, 
at  Doneraile,  386-387 

Inaugural  address  (literary  society)  at 
Mallow,  84;    The  Independent,  148 

Indo-European  Correspondence,  favor- 
able criticism  in,  150 

Instruction,  more  religious,  in  schools, 
advocated,    88 
Intellectuals,  The,"  (  Sunetoi),  purpose 
and  scope  of,  45,  233-235 

Intermediate  schools,  modern,  88,  320 

Irish  "atrocities,"  50 

Irish  Brigade,  13 

Irish  Church,  "Wants  and  Work  of," 
unpublished  essay,  125 

Irish  Clergy,  criticized  by  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett,  211 

Irish  College,  visit  to,  at  Paris,  58 

Irish  Colleges,  high  standard  of  ecclesi- 
astical, 38 

Irish  Colony  at  Exeter,  69 

Irish  courtesy,  gradual  decay  of,  among 
the  peasantry,  125 

Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record,  founding  of, 
24;    articles  in,  58,  59,  90,  93,  94, 

147 
Irish  genius,  influence  of,  to-day,  229 
Irish  Journal,  the  New,  223-224 


400 


INDEX 


Irish  Minstrelsy,  95 

"Irish  Mist  and  Sunshine,"  author  of, 

270 
Irish  Monthly,  VI,  88,  98,  loi,  118,  139, 

172 
Irish    Press,    apostolate    of   the,    100, 

223 
Irish    Rosary,     publishes     Sunetoi    in 

serial,  233-234 
Irish  University,  the  ideal,  91 
Irish  Youth  and  Ideals,  85,  88,  91,  114, 

177 
Ireland,  mission  of,  as  an  educator,  93; 

politics    in  —  standard    of  merits, 

in,  74;   land  of  destiny,  125;   "  In 

the  New  Century"  by  Sir  Horace 

Plunkett,  211 
Isla,  Father  de,  satirist,  lOO 
Isle  of  Destiny,  The,  unpublished  MS., 

Ireland,  125 

Jansenism,    taint    of,    in    theological 

circles  in  Ireland,  27 
Jean  Paul  Richter,  attraction  for,  143 
Jenning's  Logic  at  Maynooth,  26 
"Jesuitism,"  215 
Journal,  the  New  Irish,  223 
Journalism,  Truth  in,  228 

"Kampaner  Thal"  explained,  164 

Keller,  Monsignor,  253 

Keane,  Dr.  Wm.,  bishop,  46;    at  the 

Irish  College,  Paris,  20 
Kelly,  Dr.  Charles,  160 
Kenrick,  Francis  Patrick,  280 
Kenrick,  Peter  Richard,  280 
Kevin  O'Donnell,  drawn  from  life,  VI 
Kickham,  21 
Kilcormac,   MS.   translated   by   Kuno 

Meyer,  95 
Kilcoman  (Kilcolman),  108,  280,  284, 

286 
Kilkee,  107,  112 
"  Kilmorna,  Graves  at,"  258,  259,  262- 

318 

Lace  and  Industrial  Department 
IN  Doneraile  Girls'  School, 
321 


Land  settlements  in  Munster  district, 

243,  304-310,  314,  317 
Languages,  familiarity  with  foreign,  272 
Latin,  A,  appreciation  of  C.  S.'s  novels 

in,  271 
Learning  and  culture  in  Irish  seminaries, 

38-42 
Lectures,  at  Mallow,  85,  99;    Dublin, 

etc.,  184 
Letheby,  Father,  in  "My  New  Curate," 

144,  249 
Liberty,  sacredness  of,  principles  of,  216, 

224,  225 
Library,  the  Canon  in  his,  242 
Lisheen,  purpose  and  scope  of,  204-209; 

"Why  did  you  write — ?"     Leit- 
motif of,  208 
Lismore,  bishopric  of,  N.  S.  W.,  offered 

to   C.    S.,    252;     his   view   of  the 

honor,  253;    reasons  for  refusing, 

254 
Literary    Criticism,    Value    of,    article 

in  A.  E.  R.,  128 
Literary  Digest,  critique  in,  139 
Literary  methods  of  C.  S.,  V,  VI,  196, 

263-264 
Literary  property  of  C.  S.,  assigned  for 

support  of  infirm  priests,  203 
Literary  society  at  Mallow,  84 
Liturgical    observances    at    Doneraile, 

346-350 
Logic,    study    of,    at    Maynooth,    25; 

place  in  the  curriculum,  42-44 
Logue,  Cardinal,  253 
Longfellow,    Cov.    Patmore's   estimate 

of,  254 
Longman's,  Green  and  Co.,  157,  170 
"Lost  Angel  of  a  Ruined  Paradise," 

drama      of     modern      life,      237; 

criticism,  238 
Lourdes,  visit  to,  account  of  in  Diary,  55 
"Luke   Delmege,"   purpose   and   scope 

of  story,  178;    portraiture  in,  249; 

popularity   of,    164,    168;     "best" 

work,  198;  epitaph  of,  268-269 
Lyceum,  The,  137 

Lysaght,  S.   R.,  poet,  C.  S.'s  corres- 
pondence with,  176,  178,  212-213; 

estimate  of  C.  S.'s  character,  300 


INDEX 


401 


Mack,  Father,  on  Retreat,  article  in 
American  Eccl.  Review,  181 

MacCarthy,  Dr.  Brendan,  criticism  of 
"My  New  Curate",  165 

MacDonnell,  Sir  Antony,  317 

Mackey,  Captain,  18 

McCarthy,  Dr.  John,  parish  -priest  of 
Mallow,  II,  15,  32;  bishop  of 
Cloyne,  45,  77,  87;  death  of,  100- 

lOI 

McCashin,  Daniel,  V.  Rev.,  on  religious 

instruction  in  schools,  89 
McNabb,  Vincent,  O.  P.,  365 
Madden,    Justice    Dodgeson    H.,    165, 

188,   340 
"Madonna  mia,"  Alice  in  "My  New 

Curate,"   165 
Maher,  Richard  Aumerle,  "The  Heart 

of  a  Man,"  189 
Mallow,   celebrities  of,    14;   curacy  at, 

77;   chaplaincy  at,  99;  description 

of,  in  "Graves  at  Kilmorna,"  260 
Manutiae  Umbrae,  24-25 
Marcellin,   abbot  of  St.,   in   "Queen's 

Fillet,"  256 
Margaret,  sister  of  P.  S.,  9,  96 
"  Mariae  Corona,"  poems,  171 
Mass,   First,   at   Mallow  convent,  47; 

at  Dartmoor  prison,  71 
Mathematics,    proficiency    in,    15,    22, 

25 

Mauri,  Angelo,  269 

"Mayfield  College"  (Gayfield  House), 
in  "Geoffrey  Austin,"  4,  151 

Maynooth,  studies  at,  23-25,  28,  96; 
discipline  at,  25,  44;  French  in- 
fluence at,  27;  professors  at,  24, 42; 
lectures  at,  344 

Meagher,  Father,  dies  in  America,  280 

Medieval  Records,  C.  S.'s  critique  of, 
Aubrey  de  Vere,  loi 

Melleray,  the  Irish  Mecca,  284 

"Memoirs,"  C.  S.'s,  250;    burned,  251 

"Mensis  Augustinianus,"  by  Gelasius 
di  Cilia,  copied,  97 

Mercy,  Hannah  and  Margaret  enter 
convent  of,  18;    chaplaincy  at,  99 

Meredith,  Letters  of  George,  criticised, 
381 


Messenger  of  the   Sacred   Heart,    118, 

193-194 
Method  of  writing,  C.  S.'s,  V,  VI,  196, 

263-265 
Meynell,  Alice,  172 
Meynell,  Wilfrid,  129,  133 
Meyer,  Kuno,  Celtic  scholar,  95 
Militarism  in  Germany,  219 
"Miriam   Lucas,"  scope   and    purpose 

of,  256 
Mission  at  Plymouth,  49;    Exeter,  53; 

Mallow,  77,  99;    Queenstown,  87 
"Modernism,"     defined    in    letter     to 

Justice  Holmes,  214 
Molloy,  Gerald,  at  Maynooth,  23 
Monks  of  Trabolgan,  136,  137,  190 
Month,  The,  critique  in,  187 
"Moonlight     of    Memory,"     personal 

recollections  of  boyhood,  11 
"Mon  Nouveau  Vicaire,"  267 
Morton,  Father  Edmund,  73 
Mother  Austin  of  Alabama,  115 
Motto,  "Pro  Virtute  Patria,"  9 
Mother   Mary   Ita,    Presentation   con- 
vent, Doneraile,  IX 
Mulhall,     Brother     P.     A.,     Christian 

Brothers  at  Doneraile,  IX,  296,  298 
MulhoUand,  Rosa  (Lady  Gilbert),  IX, 

238. 
Munster,  clans  of,  9;  idioms  inLysaght's 

"Marplot,"  177 
Murphy,  Canon  of  Cloyne,  the  original 

of  Dr.  Gray,  248 
Murphy,    Fr.    Thomas,    of   the    Irish 

College,  Paris,  58 
Murphy,  Dr.  Jeremiah,  34 
Murray,  Dr.  P.  A.,  at  Maynooth,  23 
Muse  of  Irish  History,  125 
Music,  love  for,   11,   17,   136;    in  the 

church,  350;  popular,  355 
"  My  New  Curate, "  genesis  of,  132-144; 

popularity  of,  157;  translations  of, 

267;  dramatization  of,  182 
"My   Old    Pastors,"    proposed   theme, 

144,  157 

Nation,  The,  148 

National  Schools  in  Ireland  a  scheme 
for,  324-338 


402 


INDEX 


Nature,  love  of,  it 

Nauhelm,  visit  to,  201 

Naval  Hospital  at  Plymouth,  experi- 
ence at,  52 

Neville,  Canon,  at  Ballynockin,  18 

New  Ireland  Review,  137,  148-150 

New  York  Herald,  384 

Newman,  Gladstone  and,  compared,  92; 
estimate  of  Dr.  Russell,  24;  motto 
from,  in  "Geoffrey  Austin,"  114, 
188 

New  York  Times,  critique  of  "Graves 
at  Kilmorna,"  262 

Nuns,  C.  S.'s  esteem  for,  367-369 

Nursing,  the  science  of,  to  be  taught  in 
schools  for  girls,  337 

O'Brien,  Edward,  at  Maynooth,  29 
O'Brien,  F.  X.,  M.P.  (note),  19 
O'Brien,  Dr.,  built  church  and  convent 

at  Doneraile  (1827),  279 
O'Brien,  Sophie,  382 
O'Brien,  William,  M.P.,  VII,  14,  129; 

correspondence,  130,  141,  207,  235, 

257,266,  314,  315,319 
O'Callaghan,  "steeplechase,"  281 
O'Connell,  Daniel,  192,  222,  229 
O'Connell,  Mother  Mary  Ita,  VIII 
O'Connell,  Father  Tim,  of  Michelstown, 

19 
O'Connor,  Rev.  Michael,  of  Doneraile, 

rector  Philadelphia  Seminary,  280 
O'Connor,    Michael    Francis,    school- 
master at  Mallow,  10 
O'Dogherty,    Dr.    Keyes,    Bishop    of 

Derry,  143 
O'Kane,  Dr.  James,  at  Maynooth,  24; 

"on  the  rubrics,"  60,  61 
O'Keeffe,  Owen,   pastor  at   Doneraile, 

277;  epitaph,  278 
O' Kelly,  Patrick,  author  of  "Curse  of 

Doneraile,"  281 
Oliver,  Dr.,  at  Exeter,  59 
"Olive  Branch  in  Ireland,"    (William 

O'Brien),  314 
O'Neill,    Dr.,     bishop    of    Mauritius, 

141 
O'Neill,  George,  S.J.,  150,  338,  339,  365, 

366 


O'Neill,  Peter,  Crowley,  19 
Ordination  to  priesthood  at  Cork,  46 
O'Regan,  archdeacon,  78,  79,  99 
O'Riordan,  Dr.   Michael,  "Catholicity 

and  Progress  in  Ireland,"  210-21 1 
O'Rourke,  Hugh  (Tuam),  at  Maynooth, 

29 
O'Shea,  Father  A.  B.,  188 
O'Shea,  John  J.,  editor  A.  C.  Quarterly 

Review,  147 
Osservatore  Cattolico  (Milan) 
"Our  Concert,"  in  "My  New  Curate," 

drawn  from  life,   136 
Oxford  University,  253-254 
Ozanam    and    the    Vincent    de    Paul 

Society,  154 

Palmer,  J.  H.,  quoted  on  University 

education,  43 
Parents  of  P.  S.,  9;    boy's  promise  at 

grave  of,  32 
Parerga,  265 
Paris,  visit  to,  58 
Parnell's    efforts    in    behalf   of  Home 

Rule,  219,  227,  228,  313 
Pasteur,  quoted,  216-217 
Pastoral  theology  at  Mallow,  394 
Pastoral  life  and  activity,  243,  275-310, 

34S-3S5 
Pastoral  predecessors  at  Doneraile,  277- 

280 
Pascal,  literary  estimate  of,  143 
Paton,  Noel,  poet  and  painter,  90 
Patmore,  Coventry,  129,  182,  254 
Patriotism,    of   the    boy,    12;     of   the 

priest,  no 
Pen,  power  of,  described,  142 
"Penelope  in  Ireland"  (Kate  Douglas 

Wiggin),  165 
Perrot,  Sir  John,  130 
Phelan,  Michael,  S.J.,  VII,  263 
Philadelphia,  Doneraile  priest  becomes 

rector  of.  Seminary,  280 
Philosophy,  P.   S.,  enters  class  of,  at 

Maynooth,  23;    difficulties,  26,  30; 

study  of,   in  Catholic   seminaries, 

42-44 
Pilot  (Boston),  145,  146,  148 
Plymouth,  mission  at  cathedral  of,  49 


INDEX 


403 


Plunkett,  Sir  Horace,  on  the  causes  of 

Ireland's  industrial  backwardness, 

21,  211 
Poetry,  character  and  quality  of  C.  S.'s, 

171,  172,  174 
Policing  the  town,  295 
Political  convictions  of  C.  S.,  218-231; 

influence,  313 
"Populus  vult  decipi,"  228 
Popularity  of  C.  S.'s  books  with  the 

clergy,  270-272 
Portraits  in  C.  S.'s  novels,  V,  VI,  80, 

248,  249,  303 
Practical  guide,  C.  S.  a,  of  his  people, 

302,  304 
Preaching,   first  sermon,  50;    prepara- 
tion for,  65 
Press,  Cork  Free,  editorial  in,  2l8 
Primary  schools,  essentials  in,  334-336 
"Priest  Hobson,"  58 
Priesthood  of  Ireland,   211;    responsi- 

biUty  of,  212 
Priesthood,  promotion  to,  45;   estimate 

of,  127,  362-363 
Priests,  C.  S.'s  relation  to  brother,  360- 

365 

Priory  of  St.  Nicholas  at  Exeter,  58 

"Pro  Virtute  Patria,"  Sheehan  motto,  9 

Prophecies,  in  "The  Graves  at  Kil- 
morna,"  262 

Protestants  and  Catholics,  friendly 
relations  of,  at  Mallow,  21;  re- 
lation of,  in  Ireland,  212 

Public  spirit,  295 

Punch  criticism,  187 

Punctuality,  lessons  in,  62;  of  Irish 
peasantry,  81-82 

Purcell,  archbishop,  14 

QuAiN,  Sir  Richard,  14 

"Quant  je  puis"  (verse),  48 

"Quanta  Cura,"  Encyclical  of  Pius  IX, 

influence  on  study  of  Philosophy 

at  Maynooth,  27 
"Queen's  Fillet,"  scope  and  purpose  of, 

256;    criticism,  258 
Queenstown,  call  to,  87;    mission  work 

at,  98-99 
Quinlan,  Agnes  Clune,  IX;  lines  to,  112 


Raleigh,  Walter,  reference,  130 
Reading,  instruction  in,  in  schools,  332- 

333 

Real  life,  impersonations  from,  in  C.  S.'s 
novels,  V,  VI,  80,  248,  249,  303 

Reforms,  ideal,  82-84 

Regan,  Joanna,  mother  of  P.  S.,  9 

Reinville  (Queenstown),  in  "Rita,  the 
Street  Singer,"  VI 

Rejected  MS.,  121 

Religio-political  discussions,  213-217 

Religious  instruction  in  Catholic  schools, 
88, III 

Religious    instruction    in    intermediate 
schools,  article  in  /.  E.  R.,  88 
RespectabiHty,"  qualification  for  pro- 
motion, 60 

Renan,  Ernest,  quoted,  94 

Retreat  at  Sunday's  Well,  46 

Retreat,  Father  Mack  on,  article  in 
J.  E.  R.,  181 

Rhythmic  appreciation  of  "Lisheen," 
208 

"  Rita,  the  Street  Singer,"  VI 

Rome,  aspirations  to  enter  the  Irish 
College  at,  22;  motives  for  visiting, 
197 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul,  275 

Ruskin,  influence  of,  on  P.  S.,  32 

Russell,  Dr.  Charles  William,  at  May- 
nooth, 24;  commends  P.  S.,  46 

Russell,  Matthew,  S.J.,  34,  88;  corres- 
pondence, 119,  145,  146,  147,  173; 
biographical  sketch  in  Dolphin, 
VII,  178;  letters,  194,  205,  238, 
250,  257,  265,  353,  385 

Russell,  T.W.,M.P.,  315 

Sacred  Heart  Review,  requests  weekly 
letter,  217 

Saunderson,  Colonel,  M.P.,  315 

"Sartor  Resartus"  (Carlyle),  30,  188 

Saturday  Review,  criticism,  261 

SchafF,  Philip,  97 

Scholastic  studies  dry,  28 

Schools,  at  Doneraile,  289,  291,  320, 
321;  at  Exeter,  54;  primary  and 
secondary  in  Germany,  200;  inter- 
mediate, 88,  320 


404 


INDEX 


Schoolmaster,  the  old  and  new  com- 
pared, 325;   C.  S.'s,  at  Mallow,  10 

Scientific  laboratory  attached  to  Doner- 
aile  parish  schools,  289 

"Scorpion  Stanley,"  193 

"Semaine  religieuse,"  193 

Seminary,  Philadelphia,  Michael  O'Con- 
nor of  Doneraile  appointed  rector 
of,  280 

Seminary,  training,  ideal  and  real  in,  38; 
defects  of,  39-40 

Sermon,  first,  at  Plymouth,  50;  in 
Dartmoor  prison,  71 

Sermons,  51,  54,  61;  careful  preparation 
for,  65;  in  miniature  ("My  New 
Curate"),   135 

Seymour,  St.  John  (note),  on  witch- 
craft in  Ireland,  134 

Shanballymore,  mission,  282;  school, 
321 

Sheehan,  Patrick  Aloysius  (father),  9; 
Denis  B.  (brother),  VII,  10;  Han- 
nah and  Margaret  (sisters)  9; 
John, 10 

Sheehan,  P.,  D.D.,  V.G.  of  Doneraile, 
279 

Shepherd  of  his  flock,  289 

"Shepherds,  Ye,"  159 

Sheedy,  Rev.  Morgan,  169 

Sick  calls,  first  experience  in,  at  Naval 
Hospital,  52 

Sickness,  310;   last,  376 

Smith,  WiUiam,  note,  236 

Socialism,  as  theme  of  a  novel,  189,  190 

South  Infirmary,  Cork,  illness  at,  377- 

379 
Spalding,  Dr.  Field,  97-98 
Spanish  American   War,   reference   to, 

131 

Spectator,  criticism  in,  187 

Spenser,  John,  proprietor  of  Doneraile, 

280 
Spenser's  "  Faerie  Queen,"  108;   death, 

286 
Spinoza,  paper  on,  read  at  Maynooth, 

172 
Sponsors:   Timothy    Cronin    and    Ann 

Relehan,  9 
"Spoiled  Priest,"  story  of  a,  10 


Sport,  C.  S.  fond  of,  11,  13;    at  Don- 
eraile, 281 
St.  Leger,  William,  280,  281,  309 
Stang,    Bishop    Wm.,    appreciation    of 

C.  S.'s  writing,  139 
Stanislaus,  Sr.  Mary,  death  of,  35-37 
Stapleton,  M.  J.  (letter),  344 
"Stations"  at  the,  282-288 
"Steeple-chase,"  origin  of  term,  281 
Stokeport  (Stonehouse  in   "Luke   Del- 

mege"),  52 
Stonyhurst  College,  motto,  48 
"Stray    Leaves   from   an   Irish   Parish 
Priest's  Diary"   ("My  New  Cur- 
ate"), 136 
Student  life  in  "Geoffrey  Austin,"   17 
Studies   at   St.   Colman's,    17,   22;     at 
Maynooth,     23-25,     28,     96;      in 
National  Schools,  330,  335 
Sundays    at    Doneraile,    291;     at    the 
church,  292;  with  the  farmers,  293 
Sunday's  Well   (Tobar-an-domhnaigh), 

retreat  for  ordination  at,  46 
Sunetoi  ("The  Intellectuals"),  45,  233- 

234.  23s 

Sullivan,  Sir  Edward,  14 

Sullivan,  John,  arrested  at  Mallow,  14 

Swinburne,  "preacher  of  voluptuous- 
ness," 31 

Syllabus  of  Pius  IX,  27 

Symonds,  John  Addington,  on  edu- 
cation, 42 

Tabb's,  Father  John  B.,  verse  com- 
pared with  C.  S.'s,  172,  187 

Teachers,  training  of,  in  Ireland,  324; 
dignity  of,  328,  329;   salary,  330 

Templeroan,  277,  280 

Tennyson,  study  of,  31 

Theology,  study  of,  in  seminaries,  37; 
excluded  from  the  domain  of 
sciences,  43 

Theory  and  practice  in  missionary  work, 
38 

Thomas  de  Charmes,  textbook  at 
Maynooth,  29 

Thompson,  Francis,  174 

Times  (London),  critique  of  "Glena- 
naar,"  193 


INDEX 


405 


Times  (New  York),  critique  of  "  Graves 
at  Kilmorna,"  262 

Tober  Conela  (Holy  well),  282 

Tooreen  (station),  283 

Townhall  of  Doneraile,  built  to  pro- 
mote C.  S.'s  work  among  the 
young,  322 

Trabolgan,  Monks  of,  136,  137,  190 

Tramps,  C.  S.'s  experience  with,  299- 
300 

Translation  of  C.  S.'s  books,  V;  German, 
267,  271;  French,  267;  Italian, 
202,  269 

Travel,  C.  S.,  disinclined  to,  196 

Travers,  Charles,  in  "  Geoffrey  Austin," 

Trinity  College,  connection  with,  340 

"Triumph  of  Failure,"  beginnings  of, 
118,  119;  design  and  purpose  of, 
151,  rejected  by  publishers,  121; 
ultimate  success  of,  152 

Truth  in  Journalism,  228 

Truth  Society,  the  Irish,  99 

Tynan,  Katharine,  173 

"Uncle  Remus,"  Joel  Chandler  Harris, 
165,  188 

"Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars"  in 
Dolphin,  179,  182-183;  reprinted, 
184;   critique,  188 

United  Ireland,  3 16 

Unity,  not  slavish,  225-226 

University  education,  86 

University,  Ideal  of  a,  for  Ireland,  86, 
91,  338-343;    College  (Dublin)  338 

Universities,  education  at,  the  German, 
92;  philosophy  at  American,  43 

Ursula,  the  character  of,  in  "The  Tri- 
umph of  Failure,"  151-153 

Vacation  at  Mallow,  id,  37 

Vaughan,  Dr.  WiUiam,  bishop  of 
Plymouth,  47 

Verses  to  a  Limerick  lady  in  America, 
112 

Vincent  (Saint)  de  Paul  Society,  145, 
297 

Vincentian  monastery,  retreat  for  ordi- 
nation at,  46 

Visitation  of  schools,  320 


Visits,  social,  to  gentry,  185,  310 
Visitors,  141,  179,  239,  271,  276,  365, 

369,  392 
Vocation,  first  indication  of  P.  S.'s,  10, 

18 
Vocations  in  Ireland  to  the  priesthood, 

47 
Volkszeitung  (Cologne),  200,  267 

Walsh,  Dr.  Louis,  buried  at  Doneraile, 
279 

"Wanderings  of  Oisin,"  95 

Weekly  Register,  133 

Welmond,  Walter,  proprietor  of  Don- 
eraile, 280 

White,  Colonel  Grove,  IX,  278  (note) 

Whiteside,  Dr.,  143 

"Why  did  I  write  Lisheen.?"  208 

Wigmore,  Canon,  J.  C,  at  Mallow,  99 

Witch,  story  of  the,  originally  intro- 
duced into  "My  New  Curate," 
eliminated,  134 

Witchcraft  in  Ireland,  134 

Wolfe  Tone,  21 

"Woman  and  Child,"  article  in  /.  M., 
173 

Woollett,  Canon  Herbert,  at  Plymouth, 

49 
Wordsworth,  quoted,  11,  31 
Work  and  Wants  of  the  Irish  Church, 

125 
"Wreckers     The,"     novel     by     Wm. 

O'Brien,  M.P.,  130 
Writers,  hardships  of,  142;  rarely  attain 

to  financial  success,  143 
Writing,  secondary  object  with  C.  S., 

275 
Wyndham  Act  (of  1903),  218,  304,  314, 

317 

Yeats,  William  Butler,  95 

"Ye  Shepherds,"  195 

Yorke,  Fr.  Peter,  162 

Youth,  efforts  to  train,  84,  99,  no,  323; 

dedication  to  I.,  114;  influence  on, 

320-321 
Youghall,  vacations  at,  99,  177,  316 
Yves  de  Querdec  (Georges  Fonsegrive) 

Zangville,  142 


CANON  SHEEHAN'S  WORKS. 
FICTION. 

Student  Life:       Geoffrey  Austin,  Stxjdent 
The  Triumph  of  Failure. 

Clerical  Life:         My  New  Curate. 
Luke  Delmege. 
The  Blindness  of  Dr.  Gray. 

Irish  Rural  Life:  Glenanaar. 

LiSHEEN. 

Miriam  Lucas. 

The  Graves  at  Kilmorna 

Historical:  The  Queen's  Fillet. 

Short  Stories:         A  Spoiled  Priest  and  other  Stories. 


Literary : 


Drama : 
Poems: 
Sermons: 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Early  Essays  and  Lectures. 

Under  the  Cedars  and  the  Stars. 

Parerga. 

The  Intellectuals. 

Lost  Angel  of  a  Ruined  Paradise. 

CiTHARA    MeA. 

Marl£  Corona. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A  A      000  198  279    2 


